Zoomi Life

Mercedes, whose new E Class sedan has a coefficient of drag (Cd) of 0.24–better than both the Prius and the Insight. When we reported on this in early May, it was a complete shock to us that Mercedes was the current leader. Especially with such a classy-looking vehicle like this E-class.

Read More: Mercedes Plans to Have Coefficient of Drag Down to 0.20 By 2014

Honda has decided to release the upcoming Fit Hybrid in late 2010 instead of 2012. Due to the popularity of hybrids and the high sales enthusiasm for the Insight hybrid, Honda has decided to ramp up the release date for the Fit Hybrid by 18 months.

Read More: Honda Fit Hybrid to Release 18 Months Early (2010)

Unimpressed with the marketing blitz of Honda and Toyota’s hypermiling challenges, Ford set out to hold one of its own. The 2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid issued a 1,000 mile challenge. While I’m a big fan of the Insight and the great mileage it showed in real-world demonstrations, their hypermiling challenge was as rigged as the Toyota one was. Ford, on the other hand, seems to have been serious about making it realistic.

Read More: Fusion Hybrid Gets 81.5mpg in Hypermiling Challenge

Opel, one of Europe’s premier automakers, has released the new 2010 model of the Insignia (the 2009 version was Car of the Year). The new four-door sedan gets 45.2mpg (US) and has an amazing coefficient of drag at only 0.26. That’s getting close to the Prius and Insight, but with much better looks (in my opinion).

Read More: Opel Insignia ecoFLEX: 45.2mpg, 0.26 Cd, Good Looks

As the hybrid war between Honda and Toyota commences, Honda has taken it up a notch by offering a sporty hybrid concept, the CRZ. Based on current CRZ design, the new 2011 version will have better body styling for minimizing drag as well as a higher-horsepower engine than the Insight.

Read More: 2011 Honda CRZ Hybrid Sports Car

Recognizing Honda’s Insight as a real challenge to the Prius’ reign on the hybrid market, Toyota has announced that they’re cutting the base price of the 2010 Prius down to $21,000 (about $1,200 higher than the Insight).

Read More: Toyota to Slash Prius Price to Compete With Honda

The new Honda Insight hybrid became available in showrooms in the U.S. on Friday and Honda says that the handful available nationally now will become thousands in April.

We’ve talked about the Insight here before and it is currently the only real competition for Toyota’s Prius–and good competition at that. Despite sluggish car sales in America, the Insight is expected to do well–as it has in Japan so far–because of it’s low price tag (about $20,000USD) and high efficiency performance (well over 60mpg in real-world testing).

Read More: Honda Insight Hybrid On Sale Now

The release of the surprise Honda Insight hybrid and it’s sub-$20k price tag took most of us with a left hook. In order to compete (and get stockpiles off the lot), Toyota almost immediately reacted by lowering the price of the 2009 Prius to compete.

With the Insight coming to America in just a few months, Toyota is hitting the bricks hard to push the new 2010 Prius model to keep from losing market share. They’ve also got a hopeful ace up their sleeve: the Yaris hybrid.

Read More: Toyota Yaris Hybrid to Compete With Honda Insight

Toyota has lowered the price of a Prius to match the current price of the Honda Insight in Japan. The move was expected, but still surprising. The Prius’ price is now down to $19,250 USD. This is the current 2009 model, however, and no announcements have been made for the 2010 model.

Read More: Could the Japanese Prius Price Change Be Done Here Too?

The estimated EPA ratings for the Honda Insight, announced with the introduction of the new hybrid earlier this year, were pretty abysmal. “42mpg? That’s it?” Was the common response.

Read More: Honda’s Big Surprise: 2010 Insight Averages Over 60mpg