Honda Insight Concept Hybrid Vehicle to Debut at Paris International Auto Show

TORRANCE, Calif., Sept. 4 /PRNewswire/ -- Honda will reveal a concept
version of its new small hybrid vehicle, to be named Insight, at the 2008
Paris International Auto Show, October 2, the company announced today. The
new Insight Concept shares styling cues with the Honda FCX Clarity fuel
cell vehicle and will provide an early look at the highly-anticipated
five-passenger hybrid vehicle.

TORRANCE, Calif., Sept. 4 /PRNewswire/ -- Honda will reveal a concept
version of its new small hybrid vehicle, to be named Insight, at the 2008
Paris International Auto Show, October 2, the company announced today. The
new Insight Concept shares styling cues with the Honda FCX Clarity fuel
cell vehicle and will provide an early look at the highly-anticipated
five-passenger hybrid vehicle.

Going on sale in the U.S. next spring, the all-new purpose-built
Insight will come to market at a price significantly below hybrids
available today. From this unique position in the marketplace, the Insight
will advance the affordability and accessibility of hybrid technology to a
new generation of buyers.

"The original Honda Insight pioneered hybrid technology in the U.S. and
remains a symbol of Honda's commitment to innovative technology and fuel
efficiency," said Takeo Fukui, Honda Motor Co., Ltd. CEO. "This new Insight
will break new ground as an affordable hybrid within the reach of customers
who want great fuel economy and great value."

The Insight Concept defines a new stage in the evolution of hybrid
technology by utilizing a more cost-efficient version of Honda's Integrated
Motor Assist(TM) (IMA(TM)) hybrid technology, resulting in a new level of
affordability for hybrid customers worldwide. Evoking the innovative
styling cues first seen in the FCX Clarity, the Insight Concept is designed
with a low center of gravity and a generous five-passenger cabin, offering
the kind of driving pleasure and roomy interior that customers have come to
expect from Honda. While the Insight Concept's aerodynamic design clearly
identifies its fuel efficient purpose, its five-door access and folding
rear seats speak to functionality that is designed to meet the needs of
customers with an active lifestyle. The Insight Concept is a small, fuel
efficient hybrid car that delivers big style and functionality with a
healthy dose of fun.

Honda achieved a significant cost reduction in Integrated Motor Assist
(IMA) components which should make Insight the most affordable hybrid
vehicle to date. The production Insight will be offered as a five-door,
five-passenger hatchback. Numerous technologies, including a function to
assist customers in achieving more fuel efficient driving habits, will be
applied to achieve a further improvement in real world fuel efficiency.
With its affordable price, the new hybrid vehicle will represent the best
value in its segment. Along with the Civic Hybrid, the new vehicle will be
produced at an expanded hybrid vehicle production line at the Suzuka
factory in Japan.

The Insight is expected to have annual global sales of 200,000 units
per year -- approximately 100,000 in North America. Following the launch of
the new Insight, Honda also plans to introduce another unique sporty hybrid
vehicle based on the CR-Z, first shown at the 2007 Tokyo Motor Show. All
together, Honda's global sales of hybrids should increase to approximately
500,000 units a year, or more than 10 percent of its total worldwide annual
automobile sales.

The original Honda Insight was introduced in December 1999 as America's
first gas-electric hybrid car. The first vehicle to break the 70-mpg fuel
economy barrier, Insight was designed from the ground up to demonstrate the
ultimate potential for fuel-economy in a two-seater subcompact automobile.

A leader in the development of cleaner, more fuel-efficient mobility
products, Honda introduced the first low-emission gasoline vehicles;
America's first gas-electric hybrid car and the world's first EPA-certified
hydrogen fuel-cell vehicle, the FCX. In 2007, Honda was named "greenest
automaker" by the Union of Concerned Scientists for the fourth straight
time.