[hasarad]

I had a neighbor walk by as I was washing my Insight this afternoon. She owns a 2014 Prius V. She was surprised that my Insight looked like a normal car. I let her sit in it, and she was sold. It wasn't even washed yet! That's what gets me about the Insight. If only Honda would advertise it more - they'd have great success. Don't get me wrong. I love having a "rare" car. I just wish others would be able to see and appreciate the value of the Insight. It's an undiscovered gem.

 

[andrew28]

I had a neighbor walk by as I was washing my Insight this afternoon. She owns a 2014 Prius V. She was surprised that my Insight looked like a normal car. I let her sit in it, and she was sold. It wasn't even washed yet! That's what gets me about the Insight. If only Honda would advertise it more - they'd have great success. Don't get me wrong. I love having a "rare" car. I just wish others would be able to see and appreciate the value of the Insight. It's an undiscovered gem.

The Insight is doing pretty well considering low gas prices, people preferring SUVs, no marketing from Honda, or customer incentives. I still ask myself sometimes how can a hybrid look and drive this good.

 

[ddemetra]

If only they made the civic hatch into the insight I think sales would double!

 

[Brett]

I don't think gas prices are low. They're hovering around $3 a gallon here.

 

[andrew28]

I don't think gas prices are low. They're hovering around $3 a gallon here.

It's averaging $2.60 in the city of Boston. Just a little further out of the city where I normally fill up it's currently around $2.40.

 

[ScubaGuy]

I don't think gas prices are low. They're hovering around $3 a gallon here.

Us Californians have it worst - $4/gal right now! And we're not even into our "Summer Blend". The rise at the pump is being blamed on faulty refineries here limiting supply. I'm glad I have a gas-sippin' Insight!

 

[andrew28]

Us Californians have it worst - $4/gal right now! And we're not even into our "Summer Blend". The rise at the pump is being blamed on faulty refineries here limiting supply. I'm glad I have a gas-sippin' Insight!

I like to imagine how much money the drivers next to me are burning away sitting in traffic. While my Insight is idling on EV mode. Gas isn't $4/gallon here but I like getting them weird looks at the gas pump where it shows I only paid $8-10 to fill up.

 

[FRR]

When I bought my Insight in December, a friend of mine asked why I would ever spend money on a hybrid with gas at $2.00 a gallon. Now it is at $2.80. He doesn't ask me that question anymore.

 

[gremal]

I had a neighbor walk by as I was washing my Insight this afternoon. She owns a 2014 Prius V. She was surprised that my Insight looked like a normal car. I let her sit in it, and she was sold. It wasn't even washed yet! That's what gets me about the Insight. If only Honda would advertise it more - they'd have great success. Don't get me wrong. I love having a "rare" car. I just wish others would be able to see and appreciate the value of the Insight. It's an undiscovered gem.

Agreed, it is an undiscovered gem--totally off my radar as I was getting myself in the headspace to buy a new car. There are a few reasons Honda is not marketing it aggressively: the original Insight bombed and little could be gained by investing in marketing campaigns around the brand when the Civic and Accord are already among the most recognized names in automotive. Honda was also smart to make many advances and tasteful style updates unique to the Insight so as to upsell customers like me who were likely to buy another Civic. Even without the value of the hybrid drivetrain, it is tempting to choose the Insight on style alone.

Funny how things have come full circle since the Prius dominated the hybrid market and thoroughly trounced the 1st gen Insight. Honda learned its lessons well, and Toyota has been making many missteps lately. The latest Prius is an abomination, although I thought all of them were. I guess there's no accounting for taste, but even the most hardcore Toyota fan would be unlikely to prefer the 2019 Prius over the Insight.

 

[ScubaGuy]

The latest Prius is an abomination, although I thought all of them were.

:smile_big: I'm right there with you on Prius design, I have two sisters who bought them for MPG reasons. They now look at my Insight in utter envy. :devil: Insight crushes on trunk space, MPG, and better design and look. I test drove the 2018 Prius and I shook my head in disgust at how they line-up their "Standard" packaging vs their top-level Trim. Honda is waaaaaaaaaaay more generous on its Standards across all Trims [PERIOD], and I've known this for 20+ years so every time I looked at Toyota it was nickel-this-dime-that for what they considered Standard package. That always annoyed me as a Buyer whenever [shudder] I ever considered leaving the Honda family.

 

[andrew28]

:smile_big: I'm right there with you on Prius design, I have two sisters who bought them for MPG reasons. They now look at my Insight in utter envy. :devil: Insight crushes on trunk space, MPG, and better design and look. I test drove the 2018 Prius and I shook my head in disgust at how they line-up their "Standard" packaging vs their top-level Trim. Honda is waaaaaaaaaaay more generous on its Standards across all Trims [PERIOD], and I've known this for 20+ years so every time I looked at Toyota it was nickel-this-dime-that for what they considered Standard package. That always annoyed me as a Buyer whenever [shudder] I ever considered leaving the Honda family.

I agree with you about how Honda packed in a ton of standard features on the Insight. I hate how other automakers hide the true cost of a car behind different packages which also makes it harder to negotiate at the dealership because they most likely don't have the car in your configuration.

 

[BabyBleu]

The mean spirit in me laughs at Prius drivers because my car is so much prettier. Haha, I don't have that much mean spirit in me, but I do laugh at the Prius. I laugh at Smart cars too!

 

[andrew28]

I'm kind of liking this whole secret car thing, it gets kind of boring seeing the same cars stuck in traffic everyday, and then you see that rare car(It used to be a Tesla but I see them a lot now so not as excited as seeing a Insight:wink. Been getting a lot of questions wondering if this is the new Civic when I stop at places like my local car wash... lain::smile_big:

 

[insightfully]

Summary of Honda CEO Speech on Automobile Business Direction - May 8, 2019

In addition to the CEO's discussion on Honda's electrification strategy, his comments on platform and trim streamlining seem to foreshadow the potential design future of the Insight:

- A new vehicle platform will be announced next year (2020) using a global model called "Honda Architecture" to increase production efficiency and parts-sharing between models.

Since the first model on the new global platform will come out in 2020 calendar year (2021 model year), I think it will be launched as part of the new (Gen11) Civic. The 2021 model year fits the 'normal' 5-6 year cycle on which a new Civic generation is launched; the timing is early for a "Gen4" version of the Insight, but maybe 2021 could look like a 'refresh' on the Insight moved to the new global platform. The Insight is 'directly' based on the Civic platform (and the Accord and CR-V are 'loosely' based on it), so the 2021 Civic model should give preview to the Insight's design future ~3 years before the Gen4 Insight actually comes out.


- The number of variations currently available are too high to appeal to different regions, leading to excessive complexity and higher costs. By 2025, Honda will slash the trim and option variations for global models to 1/3 of what it has now. Simplification will result in 10% reduction of global production costs and 30% fewer man-hours, which will be re-invested into research and development of new technology.

Honda is openly saying they will "eliminate and consolidate" models, and I think the 2021 timing and strategy could be ripe to consolidate the Insight back into the Civic fold under "Civic Hybrid" umbrella. Or to at least consolidate the 'Japanese version' and the 'US/Canada version' of the Insight into a single model. Perhaps this upcoming eliminate/consolidate strategy is another reason why Honda doesn't aggressively market the Insight... i.e. why market something that may not exist as a standalone brand in the future.


Honda is just now revealing these plans to us publicly, but they certainly have been strategizing on this for years prior. Time will ultimately tell, but the overall picture comes across to me as heavy foreshadowing for the Insight's future. #AskTheMagicEightBall

 

[andrew28]

In addition to the CEO's discussion on Honda's electrification strategy, his comments on platform and trim streamlining seem to foreshadow the potential design future of the Insight:

- A new vehicle platform will be announced next year (2020) using a global model called "Honda Architecture" to increase production efficiency and parts-sharing between models.

Since the first model on the new global platform will come out in 2020 calendar year (2021 model year), I think it will be launched as part of the new (Gen11) Civic. The 2021 model year fits the 'normal' 5-6 year cycle on which a new Civic generation is launched; the timing is early for a "Gen4" version of the Insight, but maybe 2021 could look like a 'refresh' on the Insight moved to the new global platform. The Insight is 'directly' based on the Civic platform (and the Accord and CR-V are 'loosely' based on it), so the 2021 Civic model should give preview to the Insight's design future ~3 years before the Gen4 Insight actually comes out.


- The number of variations currently available are too high to appeal to different regions, leading to excessive complexity and higher costs. By 2025, Honda will slash the trim and option variations for global models to 1/3 of what it has now. Simplification will result in 10% reduction of global production costs and 30% fewer man-hours, which will be re-invested into research and development of new technology.

Honda is openly saying they will "eliminate and consolidate" models, and I think the 2021 timing and strategy could be ripe to consolidate the Insight back into the Civic fold under "Civic Hybrid" umbrella. Or to at least consolidate the 'Japanese version' and the 'US/Canada version' of the Insight into a single model. Perhaps this upcoming eliminate/consolidate strategy is another reason why Honda doesn't aggressively market the Insight... i.e. why market something that may not exist as a standalone brand in the future.


Honda is just now revealing these plans to us publicly, but they certainly have been strategizing on this for years prior. Time will ultimately tell, but the overall picture comes across to me as heavy foreshadowing for the Insight's future. #AskTheMagicEightBall

I hope they don't kill the Insight again. I actually like the strategy they used to create the 3rd gen Insight. They waited until the 10th gen Civic platform was mature enough to work out all of the kinks when selling a new generation platform while having the Insight sharing newer technology(battery, steering wheel, display audio software) to coincide with the new 10th generation Accord hybrid. Honda could do this again by having the 4th gen Insight built on a mature 11th gen Civic platform while sharing newer tech with the 11th gen Accord. :surprise: Insight should a hybrid of the Civic & Accord while being a hybrid car. :wink:

 

[hasarad]

<onsoapbox> Due to the lack of marketing by Honda, I can totally see the future being Accord and Civic badged cars for their hybrid line. There is an upside for us Insight owners. That would make the Gen3 model the one with the shortest production run. Are we driving future collectibles? Having a model with ICE, hybrid and potentially PHEV and EV variants waters things down. An Insight is an Insight - you know what it is. You don't need a badge to tell it apart from another variant. </onsoapbox>

 

[insightfully]

<onsoapbox> Due to the lack of marketing by Honda, I can totally see the future being Accord and Civic badged cars for their hybrid line. There is an upside for us Insight owners. That would make the Gen3 model the one with the shortest production run. Are we driving future collectibles? Having a model with ICE, hybrid and potentially PHEV and EV variants waters things down. An Insight is an Insight - you know what it is. You don't need a badge to tell it apart from another variant. </onsoapbox>

I like this idea of uniqueness... and hope that parts-wise, the technology remains similar enough to Honda's hybrid technology that our potential collectible remains maintainable. Certainly the Civic and Accord brands are too large to be eliminated/consolidated, so it's a good sign that the Insight is modeled after the Accord hybrid.

 

[Wifey'sInsight]

I don't fear the Insight being swallowed by the Civic machine, if anything us 3rd gen owners are the R&D before Honda commits to a fully hybridized civic. I honestly fully support the consolidation of the current lineup, and honestly expect the Civic lineup to eventually look like the clarity line up (hybrid and plug in ev).

I'm willing to bet many of the things that make the Insight unique, are tests to see what works and doesn't work with consumers, and will be streamlined into the 11th generation Civic.

 

[hasarad]

It really seems that Honda didn't push the sale of this car as hard as they should. I really think we could have seen a lot more of them on the road if Honda had been more agressive with sales on this car.

It's likely the margin on the Insight isn't as high as other models. Id' be interested to see the numbers if there is an insider that has them.

 

[BlueSerenity]

It's likely the margin on the Insight isn't as high as other models. Id' be interested to see the numbers if there is an insider that has them.

But to not even market it heavily? I mean I consider myself a Honda fan and I didn't know about this car until a random dealer I emailed mentioned it. None of my local dealers mentioned it to me and several have cars that have been sitting (you can tell by the MSRP since it changed in January so MSRP for 2018s are a little lower). You'd think they would mentioned the vehicle that's been sitting on the lot for over a year just to get it out of the door!