Honda Hybrids Dying to Catch Up with Prius

Insight cheaper, simpler than Toyota's hybrid king

(NEWSER) - Honda is rolling out a fresh—and worthy—competitor to Toyota’s Prius, king of the hybrid market, writes Joseph P. White in the Wall Street Journal. The 2010 Insight will sell for just under $20,000, some $2,000 less than the most popular Prius model, and gets “minicar mileage” while offering enough room for a bike in the back seat. "Honda has already rattled the champ," writes White, "and the first round hasn't really begun." More»

CNNMoney puts the rubber to the road and finds the best cars in 10 categories

(NEWSER) - Whether you want something small and hip or capacious and safe, you can find it in CNNMoney's guide to the best cars of 2007 as determined by Consumer Reports.

1. Budget car, subcompact: Honda Fit
2. Sedan, less then $20,000: Honda Civic
3. Sedan, $20,000 to $30,000: Honda Accord
4. Sedan, $30,000 to $40,000: Infiniti G35
5. Luxury Sedan: Infiniti M35

Forbes picks the 12 most environment-friendly cars.

(NEWSER) - You don't have to drive a hybrid to go green; half of Forbes' top picks for fuel-efficiency are small, brainy gas-driven cars.

1. Honda Civic Hybrid Sedan, $22,600
2. Toyota Prius Sedan, $22,175
3. Toyota Camry Hybrid Sedan, $26,200
4. Ford Escape Hybrid SUV, $25,740
5. Ford Focus, $13,995
6. Honda Accord Hybrid Sedan, $31,090

VW Beetles, small SUVs most popular for women

(NEWSER) - Women seem to agree on the cars they want to drive—just nine vehicle models have more female registrants than male, according to a survey of vehicle records. The top pick for women is the Volkswagen Beetle, and after that, a strong preference for small sport-utility vehicles emerges, the LA Times reports. The top 9:

1. Volkswagen Beetle
2. Nissan Rogue
3. Hyundai Tucson

Braking issues force recall of nearly 500K hybrids

(NEWSER) - Toyota president Akio Toyoda apologized to customers as he confirmed the widely expected worldwide recall of 437,000 Prius and other hybrid vehicles today. "We sincerely acknowledge safety concerns from our customers," he said at a press conference in Tokyo. "We have decided to recall as we regard safety for our customers as our foremost priority." More»