“we do know that Honda has said “Prius-Schmius” and will field a cheap, high-mileage hybrid that will seat four or five and cost less that Toyota’s”

Honda claimed at the end of last year that it would sell 250,000 hybrid cars a year by 2009. One of the cars it hopes will pull in the punters is the CR-Z, which is currently a concept model the company hopes to launch next year.