Honda planning on increasing Insight Hybrid production

Honda’s deputy chief operating officer for its domestic (meaning Japanese) operations said that the automaker plans on producing more units of the Insight Hybrid starting April. Hiroshi Kobayashi said that Honda has received almost three times its monthly target for the Insight Hybrid which went on sale in Japan on Feb. 6.

Over the next two months, the 2010 Honda Insight Hybrid will make its way to the European and North American markets. Honda plans on selling 200,000 units of the Insight globally. It expects more than half of that number to come from North America.

“The response has been overwhelming,” Kobayashi told Automotive News. “We will have to increase production plans.”

Kobayashi didn’t say how much Honda will expand output for the Insight. He said that customers in Japan who have ordered the car will have to wait at least one month. The 2010 Honda Insight costs 1.89 million yen ($19,980) in Japan.

2010 Honda Insight Hybrid: