Insight preview in Melbourne

Honda is winning the hydrogen/fuel cell marketing war, if Toyota is to be believed.

When it comes to hybrid-drive vehicles however, the shoe's on the other foot. Honda's IMA system doesn't appear to have caught the public's imagination the way Toyota's Hybrid Synergy Drive system has. That may change with the introduction of the new Insight model (pictured), but for the moment, Toyota is THE manufacturer of hybrid-drive vehicles.

Honda is determined to change that perception with the Insight, a model that shares its name with Honda's first production hybrid vehicle. The new Insight will make its local debut at the Melbourne International Motor Show at the end of this month. Powered by a 1.3-litre engine that employs the Accord V6's VCM system to disable individual cylinders progressively, the car will also run in electric mode only, unlike its namesake from 2000.

This vehicle is the latest shot in the hybrid-drive war between Honda and Toyota. The two companies started work on hybrid-drive systems with different end results in mind. So we're told by Fumihiko Ike, Chief Operating Officer for Honda in the Asia/Pacific region. Ike was along for the media presentation launching the new Honda City in Australia last week. 

When talk turned to Honda maintaining or bolstering its brand image locally through advanced technology, such as alternative fuel systems and drivetrains, the Asia/Pacific boss was happy to discuss why Honda and Toyota have trod different paths in the development of hybrid-drive vehicles.

"In the early stages, maybe 10 years ago, when we introduced the original Insight and Prius, all the other manufacturers said that we were just... losing money and just [raising] the brand image or something like that," he told the Carsales Network.

"But 10 years after, everybody is developing that technology right now. Toyota did some great things, you know; by introducing Prius -- and sacrificing all the profit."

This last remark was made without any malice, but with a bit of a chuckle. Still, amusing it may be for the Honda boss, but Toyota's long-term strategy has paid handsome dividends.

"The [Honda] approach was totally different," he continued.

"The objective [for the Insight] was to heighten the mileage. At that time, our focus, our priority was the US market, where the top speed was limited to 55MPH.

"So a small-displacement engine has an advantage [in long-range cruising], but a disadvantage in acceleration...

"Our system just assists by motor when the real torque is required, so we put a very small motor in between the engine and the transmission. It works very well.

"The Prius didn't work out in the US market at all, but it worked very well in Japan, because the roads are always very congested. The original Prius was basically a battery car -- and when it comes up to the cruising speed, it switches to the combustion engine to recharge the battery.

"At very low speed, in congested conditions, it worked very well."

Ike's description of the first Prius paints a picture of an electric vehicle with a range-extending internal combustion engine, but the IC powerplant provided motive power as well.

"The first initiative [by Toyota] was totally different [from ours], but now we respect their approach as well -- for a variety of uses. Maybe our system works fine for the very entry-level car, because our system is very simple and the cost is not so [great], but our -- what we call IMA -- system didn't work out in a high-displacement car.

"We put this IMA system on the V6 Accord in the US. It didn't sell at all, because the V6 Accord owner expects high performance."

Ike believes that buyers were confused by the car and were unwilling to pay extra for a V6 model that could be more frugal when there was a cheaper four-cylinder model that would provide the same economy and environmental benefits. He doesn't say as much, but the current Accord with its Variable Cylinder Management V6 seems to be another attempt to achieve the same ends, without the added weight, complexity and expense of the hybrid-drive system.

"So the IMA system didn't work [in that scenario]. We gave up on the IMA system for larger-displacement cars. Instead, we focus on diesel -- clean diesel. It makes a lot of sense, if we could commercialise that clean diesel. If we can sell many cars in the US, then it's justified."

That's the nub of the problem. Toyota relies heavily on large-displacement IC engines in combination with hybrid-drive systems to do what Honda would like to do with diesels, but Honda -- and other car companies -- must first convince Americans that diesel combustion is viable.