Jazz to take Honda's hybrid count to four

Honda has announced it will increase its hybrid model with the addition of a hybrid Jazz by 2010. The Jazz will take Honda's expected hybrid model line-up to four by 2015.

The new Jazz will join Honda's Civic Hybrid and a yet-to-be-named five-door hybrid-only model based on Honda's FCX Clarity fuel-cell vehicle. Within four years the line-up will also include the CR-Z sports hybrid coupe.

The announcement of the plans to add the Jazz/Fit to the hybrid fleet came as part of Honda Motor Company CEO Takeo Fukui's mid-year address in Japan this week.

Fukui said the company believed hybrid offers the "most practical and effective measure" to reduce auto carbon dioxide emissions at this time. Further he stated carmakers had to move hybrid vehicles from the current "image-oriented stage" toward "full-scale penetration".

In anticipation he said Honda would add a new hybrid motor production line at its Suzuka plant. This will more than double the per-hour production capacity of the existing installation by the end of this year. Total annual capacity will be expanded to 250,000 units including 70,000 units from the existing line, he said.

Honda's new dedicated hybrid vehicle will go on sale in Japan, North America, and Europe in early 2009 with expected annual global sales of 200,000 units. The Jazz (Fit in US and Japanese markets) will be onsale in the USA by 2010 suggest overseas reports.

Honda expects to sell around 500,000 hybrid cars per year by the time all models are rolled out. This is around half of the volume Toyota has said it will aim for.