Acura to Introduce Hybrid Models

Honda CEO Takanobu Ito says that Acura plans to add a hybrid drivetrain to its lineup. The announcement came during the unveiling of Honda’s CR-Z at the Detroit Auto Show on Wednesday.

Ito provided no details, leaving industry analysts buzzing. “Ito gave no further insights as to timing or which vehicles would get the systems, but it's safe to speculate that theTSX and TL sedans would be the first recipients of the new system,” writes Autoblog. “However, when we spoke to Ito last fall in Japan, he did say that Honda was developing a hybrid system suitable for larger vehicles.”

Acura is a premium brand of Honda -- Japan’s second largest automaker. Once the pioneer of hybrid vehicles in the United States, Honda is planning a comeback.

“In December 1999, Honda became the first car company to introduce a hybrid in the United States,” explains hybridCARS. “It also was the first company to introduce a hybrid system in a conventional model, when it began selling the Honda Civic Hybrid in 2002. However, last year, it nearly lost the second place position in the hybrid market—behind Toyota—when the company failed to reach sales goals for the 2010 Honda Insight. Strong consumer interest in the award-winning 2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid helped Ford come within a few thousand units of bypassing Honda in hybrid sales.”

Honda CEO: We will be adding hybrids to the Acura brand

Honda’s press conference at the 2010 Detroit Auto Show, CEO Takanobu Ito confirmed that the Japanese automaker will be adding hybrids to its Acura brand.

“Last year, due to the business conditions and to focus on reducing CO2 emissions, we re-focused some of our product development resources,” Ito said. “Now, I’m pleased to say that we will be adding hybrids to the Acura brand. And based on my history in developing several Acura products, I have strong confidence in our ability to advance the Acura brand.”