Hybrid

The 2013 Honda Civic Hybrid sounds reasonably compelling. But despite the promise of improved fuel consumption with a price of just shy of 1.1 million baht, the Civic Hybrid may not be as economically viable as we would be lead to believe.

This week I took the Civic Hybrid for a drive and would like to share my thoughts with perspective buyers.

Proposed changes to vehicle tax rates to be based on CO2 emissions are being met with some degree of reservation by the Thai auto industry, ever keen to hammer out the best possible deal.

Will the squeaky wheel get the kick or the oil? Who's crying like the biggest baby? Read on...

Thailand is set to be the third country to produce the Prius hybrid. Starting next month, the Prius will join the Cmary Hybrid on Toyota's Gateway facility production line.

For hybrid vehicles to have any chance of success in Thailand pricing needs to be competitive. Toyota's decision to produce the Prius locally should help, and since the units built in Thailand will be for the domestic and local market, perhaps there is some room for Toyota to shave a few baht off the price when deciding the equipment levels that will be offered on the standard model.

Earlier I gave a brief look at some of the "highlights" from Toyota's floorspace at the 2009 Bangkok International Motor Show. Right across the aisle from Toyota is Honda who seemed more interested in some "Honda Pretty" competition thing, than they did their cars. Anyway that's the way of things at the Bangkok Motor Show, and to be fair Honda needed something to take the attention off the lack of new metal.

Visitors to the 2009 Bangkok International Motor Show will find that Toyota has a "new" Yaris, a Prius II "Prototype" and a 1/X Concept. Exciting!

Although most automakers seem to be trying hard to keep a positive attitude in the face of a dramatic slow down in the industry, few are as optimistic as Hyundai Thailand. The company is eyeing 63% growth this year, and is already looking forward to introducing new cars.

Of course Hyundai can realise this 63% growth by achieving sales of just 1,500 units this year, compared to about 900 units in 2008. Hyundai's big seller is the H1, a people mover/VAN that offers good value for money despite coming into the country in CBU (completely built up) form. Hyundai will introduce a freshened up version of the H1, to be kitted out with some extra equipment, at the upcoming Bangkok Motor Show.

In this article we take a look at the Chevrolet Volt and try to work out if it is really worth waiting for. Will it actually give the Prius a run for its money? Is it the way forward?

What is the Volt?

The Chevrolet Volt is GM's answer to the assault of the Toyota Prius. The Prius is the top selling hybrid car in the world. When the Volt project was announced, oil prices were climbing steadily higher, pushing more and more buyers away from the SUVs that GM had been enjoying so much success with in the preceding years.

GM finally woke up to the threat posed by a combination of high oil prices and the apparent surge in popularity of affordable hybrid cars. The company reacted in true American fashion, by setting their engineers a seemingly impossibly difficult task to complete in an impossibly small time frame. The Volt was that task.