Honda Insight top selling car in Japan

Honda Insight was the best selling car in Japan in April

You’ve got to hand it to Honda. They have worked really hard to make the Honda Insight an appealing car, both on specification and, more importantly, on cost. And it seems to be working for them. As we reported at the end of last month, the Honda Insight was the best selling Hybrid in the UK, and now Honda has gone one better and reported that the Insight was the best selling car in Japan in April.

But the Honda Insight wasn’t just the best selling Hybrid in April. It was the best selling car. Period. Which is some feat, in its own territory with the Prius on its doorstep. And to add insult to injury for Toyota, Honda also managed the best selling car of 2008 overall with the Honda Fit (Honda Jazz in the UK).

Of course, a lot of this has to do with pricing, and it is rumoured that Honda is actually losing money on every Insight it sells. But if that is the case, they can probably justify it (and more so with excellent sales figures coming in from around the world) as they have to overcome the ‘Default Hybrid Buy’ status that the Toyota Prius has achieved.

It will be interesting to see what happens to sales once the Next Generation Toyota Prius starts to come on stream properly especially if, as seems certain, Toyota choose to keep the current Prius on sale at a price that undercuts the Honda Insight.