28 June 2001: Honda plans to begin selling petrol-electric hybrid Civic saloons in the USA next year, in a move that could triple US sales of hybrids. The company forecasts it will sell 12,000 hybrid Civics a year, along 5,000 hybrid Insight sport coupes.
the car will have a bigger engine than the Insight and will also have automatic transmission, which will make it a key competitor against Toyota's Prius hybrid, the biggest selling such car in the US.
Sales of Insights doubled last month as US gasoline prices reached $2 a gallon in many parts of the country.
