CR-Z to remain a hybrid only prospect
Despite dwindling sales, Honda shelves plans for a dedicated petrol-powered sports coupeHonda boss Itoh has refused to give its plummeting CR-Z hybrid a petrol-powered parachute because it would impinge on the struggling coupe's green credentials.
Sources at Honda insist the company's engineers had developed a rescue package for the ailing CR-Z program by stuffing its engine bay full of a 2.0-litre i-VTEC four-cylinder engine and a six-speed gearbox to create a sharper, more-aggressive model that was also cheaper to build.
However, sources insist the program, which was near production readiness, was killed off recently at the personal insistence of Honda's president.
"The green credentials of having a sports Hybrid were important to Honda and heavily publicised when the car launched," sources say.
"But the car is not selling well anywhere in the world and many people here thought the 2.0-litre program would go a long way towards saving it.
"The word came from the top, so we had to kill it off," the source said.
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