Honda's new hybrid car 'Fit'

Tokyo: Toyota makes Japan's top-selling hybrid car, but sales have been slipping.

Rival Honda is hoping to claw back further ground by releasing a hybrid version of its Fit compact model. Honda Fit, the subcompact also has an environmentally friendly hybrid engine now.

Honda's new Fit hybrid has gone on sale in Japan as the automaker expands a green car line-up that already includes the Insight and CR-Z sports car.

Hybrid car tax exemption to be extended to end of 2011

In today’s Budget 2011 announcement, the PM has announced that import duty and excise duty is now FULLY exempted for hybrid and electric cars and motorcycles until the end of the year 2011.

• The duty exemption has been extended until the 31st of December 2011, it was supposed to expire by the end of this year.
• The duties for hybrid cars are even lower now. Previously the government offered 100% import duty exemption and 50% excise duty exemption, now it’s 100% exemption for both import duty and excise duty! This should mean the price of the Toyota Prius and the Honda Civic Hybrid should be even lower now.
• Exemptions have now been extended to electric cars, hybrid motorcycles as well as electric motorcycles.
• The rest of the details are status quo, for example the exemptions still only apply to internal combustion engines with capacities of lower than 2.0 liters, so there’s still no way for the Toyota Camry Hybrid to be brought in with these tax benefits.