Honda Launches Refreshed Fit and New Fit Hybrid in Japan, Receives 10,000 Orders for Gas-Electric Model
Honda on Friday introduced the Japanese domestic market version of its new Fit (Jazz in Europe) Hybrid alongside the regular Fit model, which benefits from a minor cosmetic refresh and equipment upgrades for the 2011 model year. The company's head of domestic sales, Hiroshi Kobayashi said Honda has already received 10,000 orders for the Fit Hybrid , which was given its world premiere at last week's Paris Motor Show . The newly-added Fit Hybrid will be offered locally at the starting price of 1.59 million yen (about US$19,300 at today's exchange rates), making it the most affordable gasoline-electric hybrid vehicle in Japan. Honda said the JDM version of the hybrid model has a fuel economy of 30km/liter [equal to 3.3 lt/100km or 70.6 mpg US] under the Japanese highway test system. The car, which makes use of the same IMA system with a 1.3 liter i-VTEC engine as the Insight Hybrid, will go on sale in certain European markets from early 2011 as the Jazz Hybrid. According to th...