Honda is proud to announced that their cumulative worldwide sales of hybrid vehicles has now passed 1 million units. It’s a very impressive record, but they are still a long way behind Toyota, who has sold 4 million hybrids. But then Toyota runs a bigger operation and has lots more hybrid models.
It feels like it was yesterday when Honda announced launch of the Insight hybrid car back in 1999. That was the first hybrid car they made, and it managed to do 35 km/liter to become the world’s most fuel efficient petrol-powered car at the time. 13 years later Honda now sells 8 different hybrid models in approximately 50 countries around the world including 3 hybrid models in Europe.
Honda has been quite soft with hybrid cars so far, giving them a dismal amount of power for the sake of better economy. That is all about to change though. Honda will introduce a new two-motor hybrid system for mid-size models and an efficient, high-output three-motor hybrid system, the Sport Hybrid SH-AWD (Super Handling All Wheel Drive). This system will debut in the new NSX supercar over the next few years.
History of Honda’s Hybrid Models
| Year | Month / Model introduced to the market | Honda’s cumulative worldwide hybrid vehicle sales |
| 1999 | November: First generation Insight | |
| 2001 | December: Civic Hybrid | |
| 2004 | December: Accord Hybrid (North America only) | |
| 2005 | April: 100,000 units | |
| 2007 | May: 200,000 units | |
| 2009 | February: Second generation Insight | August: 400,000 units |
| 2010 | February: CR-Z October: Fit Hybrid |
December: 600,000 units |
| 2011 | June: Fit Shuttle Hybrid (Japan only) October: Freed Hybrid (Japan only) Freed Spike Hybrid (Japan only) |
December: 800,000 units |
| 2012 | May: Acura ILX Hybrid (USA, Canada only) | September: 1,000,000 units |
