Honda’s President and CEO, Takeo Fukui announced that a car based on its CR-Z Concept – a compact, lightweight sportscar powered by a hybrid powertrain – would enter production. This stylish coupe will join Honda’s forthcoming ‘global hybrid’ family car, which is due to launch in 2009.

"Hybrids have always been seen as niche products, and hybrid car design has mostly been based around practicality and versatility," says John Kingston, Environment Manager at Honda (UK).

"The CR-Z Concept looks stunning, and shows that green cars can be sexy and exciting – but also minimise environmental impact. The fact that we will be producing cars like this – and the global hybrid – proves that hybrid cars are becoming key volume products within our range. All of this means that Honda will be selling over 1/4 million hybrids a year by 2009."

The CR-Z Concept follows in the tyre prints of the Honda Remix Concept (seen at the LA Show last year), and the Small Hybrid Sports Concept (debuted at Geneva in March) all of which explore the potential of a compact sportscar that’s exciting to drive, but has minimal impact on the environment. The launch timings for a production version of the car are yet to be announced.