Honda Insight US pricing aims to undercut Prius
March 11, 2009 by Matt Brogan
When we attended the Press Launch of the new Honda Insight a couple of weeks back, mention was made that the pricing was to be competitive to that of Toyota’s Prius.
But upon release of the official US pricing this morning we can see that the Insight has undercut its main competitor by more than 10 per cent.
American Honda Motor Company said today that the five-door Insight will have a base list price of $20,470 ($31,670 AUD), some $2,250 less than the Toyota Prius, which starts at $22,720 ($35,155 AUD).
If we apply the equation relative to Prius’ current Australian pricing, this should mean an RRP of $33,920 for the Insight (base spec) when pricing is officially released here.
US Honda spokesman Chris Martin said the company aims to sell 90,000 Insights in the United States in the first 12 months after its March 24 showroom debut.
Print it: 
Good to see the money saved on design by copying the look of the Prius is being passed on to consumers.
LOL! ^^^ Agreed!
Will they try to undercut them here in oz as well? I wonder. I don’t see any Insights on the roads here. Only ever saw one in real life. Prius > Insight. That is all.
The Civic hybrid which has been available here for years was always cheaper than the Preese.
Nobody bought it though.
heres hoping Honda Australia dont rip us off!
Its being made in Japan, and since Australia and Japan are so close, I hope pricing reflects it.
They have kept pricing of the Accord Euro down quite well considering all the equipment you get. And thats made in Japan, so there is hope!!
What a rip off.
The Civic Hybrid was always just a tad over $30k and now they have increased its price from the original $30990 to now $35990 in just 4 years.
Our low AUD has a lot to do with how they price this.
Seeing their latest Honda City with a ridiculously high price I’m scared to think what they’re gonna do with the Insight now.
I was hoping for a starting price at just over $30,000 but it looks more like $35,000 now with the low AUD and the way Honda is thinking.
It’s no better than a petrol Civic in terms of ride and quality so I don’t think the extra $12,000 or so is worth it just because its a hybrid.
This will fail like the Hybrid Civic if they don’t price it right.
Honda Australia has to jack up the price to support their Power of Dreams (mansion dealers). I do not think they will undercut the price of Insight and they will blame exchange rate for sure. If the exchange rate is so bad, why Honda Australia jacked up the price of CRV Sport and Luxury model by $1,500 but they did not jack up the price of basic CRV? Lets see what price will be for new Odyssey.
I don’t know how Honda can push up their prices so high, considering most of their vehicles are coming from Thailand. Rumour has it the Civic is going to go up in price again.
It will be very interesting to see where they price the new Insight and 5-dr Civic hatch when they arrive here. The Civic hatch is such a nice car, having closely viewed it at the motorshow, but considering pricing will probably start in the early $30k, its overpriced for a 1.8L.