Car blogs

By John O'Dell, Senior Editor


Honda Motor Co. has joined the list of automakers downplaying the importance of January's 2009 North American International Auto Show , but the automaker says it still will use the Detroit show to debut the production version of its upcoming Insight hybrid.



Unlike Nissan and several other carmakers that are pulling out of the upcoming Detroit show completely in order to save the millions of dollars show participation can cost, Honda will still be there, and will still have a range of top executives available for interviews and to promote the company's vehicles during the show's four-day media preview, said spokesman Sage Marie.

----------
Honda's 2010 Insight Hybrid will look a lot like the concept (right) shown in Paris and Los Angeles.
----------

"We're just doing away with the smoke and mirrors," he said, referring to the company's decision to not stage a formal unveiling ceremony with the kind of theatrical productions -- including indoor snowstorms, cattle drives, entertainment and sports stars hawking vehicles and cars crashing through walls of glass -- that has distinguished the Detroit show for decades.






It wasn't a difficult decision.


With the auto industry in turmoil and the fate of the ever-shrinking "Big Three" U.S. automakers expected to be the center of attraction anyway -- there probably will be more financial obituary writers than auto writers in attendance during the media preview days -- an expensive launch party for the Insight probably wouldn't have gained any more publicity for the car than its mere presence on the show floor will garner.


"It's an important vehicle that will still generate a huge amount of interest," Marie said of the Insight, a five-seat hybrid expected to be priced below $20,000, making it the industry's least-expensive gas-electric car at a time consumers are looking to save money in the showroom as well as at the gas pump.


"We'll still be at the show, and with the right car at the right time," he said.
Continue reading...

Tags: Auto Shows, Fuels & Technologies, Honda, Hybrid, Detroit Auto Show, Honda Insight Hybrid, North American International Auto Show

---

Honda To Downplay Glum Detroit Auto Show, but Says It Isn't Pulling Out was originally published by Green Car Advisor. Read the full story by clicking here.