http://autos.canada.com/news/story.html?id=f59a2878-3bfd-47dd-bf01-1f84d77ddffbJapan's Honda Motor Co. said this week it planned to release a more affordable hybrid car by 2009, hoping to boost sales among consumers who now find eco-friendly vehicles too expensive.
Japanese automakers pioneered hybrid-engine cars such as Honda's Civic Hybrid, which save fuel costs and have proven to be major hits at a time of soaring oil prices.
At the Tokyo Motor Show, Honda showed off the CR-Z concept car, a lightweight sports model with a hybrid engine.
"Honda plans to release a new hybrid vehicle in 2009 that is more affordable than the Civic Hybrid," Takeo Fukui, president of Japan's second largest automaker, told reporters at the industry show held in Tokyo's outskirts.
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