Honda Gets 8,000 Orders For CR-Z Sports Hybrid
Date: 17-Mar-10
Country: JAPAN
Author: Chang-Ran Kim
Honda Motor Co said on Tuesday it had received about 8,000 orders for the CR-Z sporty hybrid car in Japan after less than three weeks on the market, or eight times the monthly sales target of 1,000 units.
The two-door compact, which went on sale in Japan on February 26, is the second in a line of low-cost hybrid cars from Japan's No.2 automaker and is scheduled for launch in North America and Europe this summer.
Honda has said it expects to sell 40,000-50,000 of the CR-Z a year worldwide.
Of the orders received in Japan, 40 percent of customers chose the six-speed manual transmission version in what Honda officials said indicated a popularity among sports car enthusiasts. Nearly 100 percent of cars sold in Japan are automatic.
Honda trails Toyota Motor Corp by a wide margin in hybrid sales, with the low-cost Insight selling just 3,500 units last month, compared with 27,000 for its rival's flagship Prius.
(Editing by Nathan Layne)
