Autoblog

It's the impending debut of the all-new Prius-assaulting Insight hybrid that's got our hearts all aflutter over Honda's booth at the upcoming Paris Motor Show, but that's not all the automaker will be bringing with it to the City of Lights. Along with the new dedicated hybrid we'll see the latest version of its older and somewhat less interesting brother, the Civic Hybrid, that along with the rest of the Civic line for '09, gets a small bit of freshening for the new model year. We do like the looks of the new front-end, but besides that, there's not much to see here... and so we move along to the CR-Z hybrid coupe that Honda's been showing off since Tokyo. Big H's other stab at saving the world runs on hydrogen, the FCX Clarity. Despite the fact that nobody in Europe will be able to buy it, it'll be there with bells on.

Honda will also use the Paris Motor Show to introduce the Continent to its new-for-'09 Jazz, known to us Yanks as the Fit. Something else that should be of interest to the Europeans is Honda's first automatic gearbox for its ubiquitous 2.2-liter diesel engine, dubbed the i-DTEC, which rounds out the new stuff that Honda has to show in Paris.

[Source: Honda]

We've already been introduced to Honda's new i-DTEC clean diesel and, as expected, it will be finding its way into the next generation TSX sometime in 2009. The inclusion of the 2.2-liter diesel will follow the redesign of Acura's entry-level sedan sometime this spring, with the i-DTEC-equipped model initially debuting in Europe (in the Euro Accord) and eventually finding its way into the RDX crossover later next year. A V6 diesel is also expected to arrive sometime in 2010.

According to Dick Colliver, Acura's executive veep of American Honda Motor Corp., Acura will be a totally different brand in the next five or six years, further differentiating itself from Honda and becoming a tier one luxury brand with its aim set squarely on BMW and other luxury automakers.

A new TL will debut later this year and the TSX replacement may also come equipped with the turbocharged four found in the RDX when it goes on sale this summer.

[Source: Automotive News – Sub. Req.]