Honda halts production of hybrid Accord

Honda will discontinue the hybrid version of its Accord sedans, the company said Tuesday, though it remains committed to developing more hybrids.

Honda Motor Co., Japan's No. 2 automaker, will continue to make gas-and-electric models of its Civic sedan, but stop offering the electric-gas version ofthe Accord with the new model expected to go on sale later this year, company spokesman Yoshiyuki Kuroda said in Tokyo.

'Americans didn't accept the Accord hybrid.' —Yoshiyuki Kuroda, Honda Motor Co.

The Accord hybrid, which is sold only in North America, was a dud, selling just 25,000 since going on sale in 2004, and just 6,100 last year.

Kuroda said the decision underlines how hybrids tend to be more popular with smaller models because mileage improvements tend to be more pronounced. "Americans didn't accept the Accord hybrid," Kuroda said.

Toyota Motor Corp.'s Prius hybrid is the market leader, with 729,800 units sold since December 1997. Toyota offers several other hybrid models, including the hybrid Camry and hybrid Lexus models.

Honda to release new hybrid vehiclein 2009

The Accord hybrid's U.S. sales totalled just 439 last month, while Toyota sold 24,000 Prius cars during the same period. The most recent Canadian figures suggest that hybrids made up about 10,000 of the 1.6 million vehicles sold in 2006, according to Desrosiers Automotive Consultants.

Last year, Honda said it will stop making the slow-selling Honda Insight hybrid, but Honda is promising a new U.S. hybrid in 2009.

Tokyo-based Honda continues to sell the hybrid Civic, which has sold more than 153,000 since going on sale in 2001 in Japan, Europe and North America.

Hybrid sales in North America have risen with soaring gas prices. The Prius made up more than 40 per cent of hybrid sales in the U.S. last year.