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Takanobu Ito, president and chief executive officer of Honda Motor Co., poses with the company's Accord hybrid sedan at its unveiling in Tokyo.
Honda Motor Co. (7267), Japan’s third-largest carmaker, unveiled a hybrid sedan at a 20 percent higher price than Toyota Motor Corp. (7203)’s gasoline-electric Camry, betting drivers will pay extra for fuel economy.
The hybrid Accord sales begin tomorrow in Japan at a 3.65 million yen ($38,000) starting price, Tokyo-based Honda said today in a statement. That’s 610,000 yen more than the 3.04 million yen dual-powered Camry. The hybrid Accord starts U.S. sales in October, according to a separate statement today.
Honda’s flagship sedan, outsold by the Camry in the U.S. every year since 2002, seeks to build on the success it has had this year by improving gas mileage. U.S. deliveries of the Accord have jumped 23 percent this year, compared with a 5.5 percent drop for the Camry.
“It’s definitely a good strategy, with consumers looking for the best possible fuel economy that meets size, room,” requirements, said Alec Gutierrez, senior market analyst for auto researcher Kelley Blue Book in Irvine, California. “The Accord is doing phenomenally well, and with the addition of the hybrid, Honda will see a nice boost.”
Camry has led annual sales versus the Accord in the U.S. for 11 years, a gap that narrowed to 22 percent last year from 31 percent in 2011.
Read more http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-...l-pay-mileage-premium-with-hybrid-accord.html
