The Honda Civic Hybrid when first launched way back in June created a huge interest among people, but its high price ensured that only the very rich could afford one. Even though the Civic Hybrid originally retailed for almost twice the amount of its petrol sibling, visual discrepancy between the two was negligible. Under the hood was where the difference lay. Where the conventional petrol version uses a 1.8-litre internal combustion engine, the Hybrid uses a 1.3-litre petrol engine together with a small electric motor, making it the most fuel-efficient car in its category by returning a mileage of 20kmpl!

Honda received a lot of enquires for this technological marvel, but couldn't convert all of them into sales, owing to the Hybrid's high sticker price. Honda Siel has so far managed to sell only 60 units in the country and hopes that the slash in price will change proceedings from here onwards.

Like most car makers Honda Siel too has borne the brunt of the slowing economy and high financing costs, which have stymied cars sales. With the sales of its products dipping by 28 percent, Honda has decided to go slow on the construction of its new plant in Rajasthan.

The Civic Hybrid which is manufactured in Japan and imported to India via the CBU (Completely Built Unit) route, will become one of the most competitively priced hybrids in the world after the price cut! However it must still be mentioned that in the US where the Civic Hybrid is very strong, it stickers at a much more reasonable price of Rs. 11.30 lakhs, thanks to various tax rebates by the American Government.     

Post the price slash, the difference in price between the petrol and hybrid Civic is only Rs. 50,000. This price difference is on account of the 4-year extended warranty package that comes bundled as a standard fringe benefit on the Hybrid, but is also offered as an option on the petrol model. Being so closely priced, it will be interesting to watch the performance of the two Civic variants against each other.