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Report: Honda plans to scrap Prelude
from automotivenews.com
WASHINGTON, June 26-- Honda Motor Co Ltd plans to scrap its high-performance Prelude sports coupe next year after 23 years as the sportiest Honda, USA Today reported Tuesday, quoting the company's U.S. sales chief.
In a separate development, the Japanese carmaker plans to begin selling gasoline-electric hybrid-power Civic sedans in the USA about next March, hoping to triple U.S. sales of fuel-efficient hybrid cars, USA Today reported.
The paper quoted Honda Executive Vice President Dick Colliver as saying the company would also ``soon'' get a version of the MDX sport-utility vehicle made by Acura, Honda's luxury brand. He gave no timetable.
USA Today said the Prelude was a darling of auto enthusiasts for its powerful engine and crisp handling, but sales of the $24,000-$27,000 car were limited.
The Prelude was outsold last month by the $21,000 Honda Insight, a two-seat gas-electric hybrid considered a niche model.
Ford Mustang, the most popular sporty coupe, starts at $17,000 and outsells Prelude 12-to-1.
Colliver was quoted as saying the coupe market ``is very competitive. (Prelude is) built in Japan, and we haven't been able to get the cost down.''
Honda would introduce another coupe, ``a completely different design,'' as a 2003 model, the paper quoted him as saying. It is expected to slot between today's Prelude and the mainstream Honda Accord coupe in size, price and image.
Colliver told the paper Monday that he hopes to sell at least 12,000 hybrid Civics a year, in addition to 5,000 hybrid Insights.
``Civic comes right out of the chute with a bigger engine, automatic transmission,'' he said, referring to the low power and manual transmission that hampered early sales of the Insight, which gets 57 miles per gallon in town.
Colliver said no price has been set for the hybrid Civic, but sales of Insights doubled last month as U.S. gasoline prices hovered around $2 a gallon in many places.
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