After two lackluster years, the second-generation Honda Insight is starting to see a surge in sales. Soaring gas prices, along with Honda’s “The Really Big Thing” advertising campaign, boosted sales of the Insight to 2,782 units in March, a 62.2 percent increase compared to the same month last year. Furthermore, Ward’s Auto points out that the “Insight’s sales rise last month outpaced the 52.0 percent increase for the Toyota Prius.”
Honda’s executive vice president, John Mendel, told Ward’s Auto that, “When fuel prices go up, people think of Honda.” Mendell admits that $4-plus pump prices isn’t the only thing that’s driving up sales of the Insight. Mendell says that:
We also have a pretty strong promotion going in terms of advertising. The dealers seem to be getting increased traffic from that. It’s a spring market, customers are coming back.
Although demand for the Insight is on the rise, the Prius remains the hybrid heavyweight, with sales hitting 42,779 units in the first quarter of 2011 versus only 6,058 for the Insight.
[Source: Ward’s Auto]
