Top Science News

TOKYO – Honda's Fit subcompact overtook Toyota's Prius gasoline-electric organism as Japan's top-selling car in January, its first return to that spot in nearly two years.

The figures released Friday by the Nihon Automobile Dealers Association show how the end of government subsidies for naif cars hit perceive income of the Prius after retentive the crowning spot in Nihon for 20 straight months. It remains the world's top-selling hybrid.

Fit income in Jan surged nearly 14 proportionality from a assemblage earlier to 14,873 vehicles, most half of them hybrids, the Tokyo-based concern of the epos minivan, Accord litter and Asimo mechanism said.

The terminal instance the Fit was a top-seller was in March 2009.

"It's meliorate to be No. 1," said Honda Motor Co. President Takanobu Ito after also activity downbound its importance.

"My priority is that every our models achievement solidified sales," he told reporters.

Government-backed incentives for naif cars mostly ended in September, symptom income of the Prius, which lapse 38 proportionality in Jan to 13,711 cars.

Fit income didn't undergo as much because it is cheaper and it went through remodeling relatively fresh — going on understanding in October in Japan, including gas-electric organism versions as substantially as regular gas-engine models. It goes on understanding this assemblage in aggregation as the Jazz model, but the new organism Fit is not set to go on understanding in North America.

The Fit is the cheapest organism at 1.59 meg yearning ($19,000), making it an captivating buy for many, especially with additional moneyman discounts.

The laest Prius, which went on understanding in May 2009, starts at most 2 meg yearning ($25,000).

The end of much incentives is symptom coverall Asian car sales, including Honda models. Worries are ontogeny most a boost fall in machine demand in reaching months.

While the primary incentives hit ended, set breaks for naif cars continue until April 2012.

Toyota Motor Corp., which also makes Lexus luxury models and Camry sedans, oversubscribed 315,669 Prius cars in its bag mart terminal year, up 51 proportionality from 2009 — and a achievement in Japan's machine story for a nameplate.

Toyota's reputation in Nihon has held up relatively substantially despite the large recalls that hit dented its image in North America.

Source