Honda Superstore of Lisle

The green-car race is on, and Honda is readying three new entries. First up: a small, low-cost “dedicated hybrid” that reprises the Insight name and could give the Toyota Prius a run for your money at purchase time and at the gas pump.

What We Know About the 2010 Honda Insight

It didn't appear in public until October 2nd at the Paris International Auto Show,  but Honda’s promised low-cost “dedicated hybrid” car is coming into focus. The company confirmed the new model’s broad outlines in a late-May press briefing that gives us just enough detail to make good guesses about the specifics that are due to be released later this year.

The 2010 Honda Insight is due to start production early in calendar 2009 and should reach U.S. dealers by spring with a hoped-for starting price of less than $20,000. That compares with $22,600 for the 2008 HondaCivic Hybrid sedan, now the only gasoline/electric vehicle in the brand’s portfolio. The new Insight will be built alongside the Civic at Honda’s Suzuka plant in Japan, but on a specific (“dedicated”) platform shared with no other current Honda vehicle. In this way--and perhaps others, too--the 2010 Honda Insight mimics the top-selling Toyota Prius. However, Honda says it will also add a hybrid patterned on the sporty 2007 CR-Z concept coupe, as well as a gas/electric version of its Fit subcompact. Timing on these hasn’t been announced, but sources forecast the CR-Z by model-year 2012, the hybrid Fit by 2015.

Company officials say the 2010 Honda Insight will be a 5-passenger 4-door hatchback looking somewhat like the wedge-shaped FCX Clarity,  the hydrogen-fuel-cell midsize sedan that’s now being leased to a handful of select Southern California consumers. The front-wheel-drive Insight will be smaller than Clarity, likely falling in the compact-car class. Our estimated dimensions are based in part on sightings of test prototypes based on the Honda Airwave, a compact high-body wagon not sold in the U.S.

The 2010 Honda Insight will use a lighter, simpler new version of the Civic Hybrid’s basic Integrated Motor Assist (IMA) drive system. Unlike other hybrid setups, notably Toyota’s, IMA uses a battery-powered electric motor only to assist the gasoline engine; the car does not run on electricity alone except in certain low-speed situations. Company talk of “significant” weight and cost reductions suggests the Hybrid’s IMA will have either a 3-cylinder engine or a small 4-cylinder with displacement of 1.0-1.3 liters. The engine, like the platform hosting it, should also be specific to the 2010 Honda Insight. Ditto the expected continuously variable automatic transmission (CVT). The motor and battery pack should also be exclusive, Honda-engineered components designed for maximum efficiency with minimum space, weight, and cost. The batteries, which reportedly tuck beneath the cargo floor, will be conventional nickel-metal-hydride (NiMH), not the more-advanced lithium-ion (LI) type. Honda believes LI batteries are not yet ready for mass-market cars because of their cost and concerns about overheating. That means the 2010 Honda Insight will not have plug-in capability like the 2011 Chevrolet Volt or the LI-powered Prius expected by 2012.

The 2010 Honda Insight will also feature a new driver-focused fuel economy enhancement system called the Ecological Drive Assist System, or Eco Assist. Honda says the system combines a driver-activated ECON mode that optimizes fuel economy with a feedback function that changes the background color of the speedometer to reflect the effects of driving style on economy. The company also says the system's scoring function will provide additional information on current and long-term driving techniques. Honda claims these features will help the car's operator increase real-world fuel economy.

Demand for hybrids and other “green” vehicles is fast gaining momentum, especially in the U.S., and Honda clearly wants a big piece of this expanding pie. That explains reported heavy investment in the 2010 Honda Insight project, which includes expansion of the Suzuka plant (from 70,000 vehicles a year to around 250,000) and setting up new facilities to produce the electric motor and related components. Though Toyota is likely to remain far ahead of Honda in hybrid-vehicle sales, Japan’s number-two says it’s not in a race, only continuing its drive to make cars more environmentally responsible. In that regard, Honda touts its many years of pioneering low-emissions technology--and for being named “greenest automaker” by the Union of Concerned Scientists four years in a row (2004-07).

Still, the 2010 Honda Insight is no mere image-polishing exercise. As financial analyst Koichi Ogawa pointed out in a recent Reuters report: “When you say ‘hybrid,’ the image that really comes to mind is Prius. Honda is very dependent on the U.S. market, which is shifting towards things like hybrids, and for survival having a hybrid (model) is essential.” So, despite all the high-minded spin that will doubtless surround it, the 2010 Honda Insight is as much about earning greenbacks as greening-up the planet. 

Thinking about a new car? 2009 is the year to buy. You may be entitled to deduct state and local sales and excise taxes paid on the purchase on your 2009 tax return.

The special deduction is available regardless of whether you itemize deductions. Under current law, purchasers can claim this special deduction only on their 2009 tax returns -- not on 2008 or earlier tax returns, and not on returns after the 2009 return... So what are you waiting for?

The deduction is

• Limited to state and local sales and excise taxes paid on up to $49,500 of the purchase price of a qualified new car, truck, minivan, and SUV
• Phased out for taxpayers whose modified adjusted gross income is between
  • $125,000 and $135,000 for individual filers
  • $250,000 and $260,000 for joint filers.
    
    

    IR-2009-60, June 10, 2009

    Text Source: IRS.GOV
    Audio Source: ENG | SPA

    WASHINGTON -The Internal Revenue Service and Treasury Department today announced that a tax break for the purchase of new motor vehicles is available in states that do not have a state sales tax. Under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, taxpayers who buy a new motor vehicle this year are entitled to deduct state or local sales or excise taxes paid on the purchase.

    The IRS and Treasury have determined that purchases made in states without a sales tax - such as Alaska, Delaware, Hawaii, Montana, New Hampshire and Oregon - can also qualify for the deduction.

    The IRS said today that taxpayers who purchase a new motor vehicle in states that do not have state sales taxes are entitled to deduct other fees or taxes imposed by the state or local government. The fees or taxes that qualify must be assessed on the purchase of the vehicle and must be based on the vehicle's sales price or as a per unit fee. According to the IRS, Congress intended for these fees or taxes to qualify for this special tax deduction.
    
    "This special tax break is available for people purchasing a new car this year, and that can include people in states without a sales tax," said IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman. "This means that more people can take advantage of this deduction when they file their tax returns next year."
    
    To qualify for this deduction, the vehicle must be purchased after Feb. 16, 2009, and before Jan. 1, 2010. Taxpayers can claim this special deduction only on their 2009 tax returns to be filed next year.

    The deduction is limited to the fees or taxes paid on up to $49,500 of the purchase price of a qualified new car, light truck, motor home or motorcycle.

    The amount of the deduction is phased out for taxpayers whose modified adjusted gross income is between $125,000 and $135,000 for individual filers and between $250,000 and $260,000 for joint filers.

    The special deduction is available regardless of whether taxpayers itemize deductions on their returns. Taxpayers who do not itemize will add this additional amount to the standard deduction on their 2009 tax return. The IRS reminded taxpayers the deduction may not be taken on 2008 returns.

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