Honda Taiwan to Launch Locally Insight Hybrid

Taipei, Feb. 14, 2011 (CENS)--With an eye on the environment-friendly vehicle market in Taiwan, Honda Taiwan Motor Co., the 100%-owned local subsidiary of Japanese automaker Honda, recently introduced the Honda Insight Hybrid to break the monopoly of Toyota/Lexus in the local market.

Car dealers said that Taiwan's Ministry of Finance (MOF) has announced to include hybrid cars to be eligible for a 50% reduction in commodity tax, which will help to popularize hybrid cars in Taiwan.

Some 3,500 hybrid cars were sold in Taiwan in 2010, according to statistics released by the Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC), up 60% from 2009. The best-selling hybrid last year in Taiwan was the Lexus RX450h with 2,155 vehicles licensed. More than 400 Toyota Prius were sold as well.

Industry insiders said that, despite full-electric cars or battery electric vehicles (BEVs) now eligible for 100% commodity-tax breaks, hybrid vehicles are expected to gain popularity easier than BEVs before the construction of an even-better recharging infrastructure on the island.

Honda Taiwan said that the imported Insight will retail for N$999,000 (US$33,300), making it the most affordable on the island, and the company is confident that sales of the new model will outperform that of Toyota Prius.

Honda Taiwan claimed that it has orders for about 100 Insights, and expects all 500 vehicles to be imported will be sold by the end of the year.