Roadtestreports.co.uk have named the Honda Jazz Hybrid as their Car Star of the Month.
Previously selected as their Car Star back in October 2009, the Jazz earns itself a moment in the spotlight once again, mainly on the merit of becoming Honda's latest hybrid model.
Although the new Lime Green colour isn't flavour of the month, overall Road Test Reports remarks:
Three of Honda's cleanest cars will compete in the very first RAC Future Car Challenge in November. The new Honda Jazz Hybrid has been entered in the Brighton to London event, alongside the hydrogen-powered FCX Clarity fuel cell car and a sporty hybrid CR-Z.
Starting at Madeira Drive in Brighton, the Future Car Challenge uses the traditional 60 mile veteran car run route, but in reverse. The three Honda cars will be retracing the route taken by Honda Motor founder, Soichiro Honda, when he tackled the London to Brighton event in 1985.
Making its debut at the Paris Motor Show this week, the hybrid version of the Jazz features Honda's innovative petrol-electric IMA system and retains the practical characteristics found in the supermini, while lowering emissions and improving fuel economy.
John Kingston, Government Affairs and Environment Manager, Honda (UK), explains:
A hybrid version of Honda's much-loved Jazz will make its world debut at the Paris Motor Show in September, bringing lower emissions and improved fuel economy to the practical supermini.
The introduction of Honda's petrol-electric IMA system to the Jazz, makes the car the world's first B-segment hybrid.
Britain's 'greenest' car is the Honda Insight with the 'least green' car being the 8.0 litre Dodge SRT-10, according to the Environmental Transport Association (ETA). It calculates that a year's driving in the Dodge emits the same amount of carbon dioxide emissions as is absorbed by 322 mature trees - the equivalent of an acre of oak forest. The ETA examined over 1,300 models of car currently on sale in Britain and compared their power, emissions, fuel efficiency and the amount of noise they produce to create a definitive guide to buying the 'greenest' vehicle.
Official pictures have been released of the Honda CR-Z concept, the first hybrid with seriously sporting pretensions.
Honda is set to unveil it at this year's Tokyo motor show in late October and, despite the 'concept' tag, Honda sources say that it's nine-tenths production ready and will be in UK showrooms by the summer of 2010.
TOKYO, Japan, May 11, 2009 - Honda Motor Co., Ltd. today announced that Insight ranked as the industry's best-selling car among new vehicle registrations* in Japan for the month of April 2009, with sales of 10,481 units (source: Japan Automobile Dealers Association). It is the first time in history for a hybrid model to be the industry's best selling vehicle in Japan for any monthly sales period.
Honda has today announced the prices of the all-new and highly anticipated Honda Insight. Prices for what is the world's most affordable hybrid are confirmed as follows:
TOKYO, Japan - Honda announced that global sales of Honda hybrid vehicles passed the 300,000-unit mark on a cumulative basis at the end of January 2009, since the introduction of the first-generation Insight in November 1999.
The restructuring of Honda's new model programme that led to the death of the new Honda NSX is much more extensive than previously thought. Honda is completely dismantling its plans for the next two years as it attempts to deal with the decline in new car sales across the world.
Among the casualties of Honda's rethink are a range of rear-wheel-drive cars to be sold under the Acura brand, a proposed V8 engine, a successor to the Honda S2000 and a convertible based on the forthcoming Honda CR-Z coupé.