TOKYO (AP) — Honda expects its global sales will rise 6 percent this year to a record 3.76 million vehicles on booming demand in the U.S., Europe and Asia, the automaker's president said Wednesday.
The company also plans to invest aggressively in research for hybrids and other new technology in Japan, said Takeo Fukui, president of Japan's No. 2 automaker.
"The competition in hybrids has just begun," he said, a clear reference to Toyota, which makes the Prius, the top-selling hybrid.
Fukui said Honda will introduce a new hybrid model, which runs on gas and electricity, with an affordable price tag in 2009, targeting sales of 200,000 vehicles a year. The company will focus more on hybrid offerings so that overall hybrid sales will make up about 10 percent of Honda's sales by about 2010, he said.
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