TOKYO, Japan (AP) -- Honda plans to invest aggressively in research for hybrids and other new technology in Japan, the automaker's president said Wednesday.
The announcement comes as the company expects global sales to rise 6 percent this year to a record 3.76 million vehicles on booming demand in the U.S., Europe and Asia.
"The competition in hybrids has just begun," said Takeo Fukui, president of Japan's No. 2 automaker, in 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.
Honda expects sales to keep growing in nearly all regions around the world in 2008, including North America, Europe, China and even in Japan, where sales declined 12 percent this year to 620,000 vehicles. Four new models will be introduced in Japan next year to woo buyers, Fukui told reporters at Tokyo hotel.
The automaker, which makes the Accord sedan and Civic compact, did not give an overall global sales forecast for 2008. But Fukui did project North American sales to rise 3 percent to 1.59 million next year, adding to an expected 3 percent growth this year to 1.55 million vehicles.
Honda's 2007 sales projection is up from 3.55 million vehicles in 2006.
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