Honda sells 2,096 Insight hybrids in April, Prius sales drop 61.5%

April U.S. auto sales numbers came out today, and Honda reports it sold 2,096 Honda Insights. That's a far cry from the 5,000 Insights that the company sold in Japan in the car's first week. Guess the pent-up demand for the Prius-alternative was stronger back home than here in the U.S. Or maybe the 478 Insights that were available at launch at the end of March were not enough and dampened enthusiasm? Whatever the reason, Honda expects big things from the little hybrid. Honda increased Insight production rates, and the company says it will be ready with 200,000 units a year, with half that expected to come to the U.S.

One surprise: the Civic hybrid outsold the new Insight, 3,361 to 2,096. The Accord hybrid came in dead last with zero sales in April 2009. Overall, Honda's sales dropped 24.5 percent compared to April 2008.

On the Toyota side of the fence, Prius sales for dropped 61.5 percent in April compared to April 2008. With a new model coming very soon, ToMoCo was still able to move 8,385 units last month. Overall, Toyota and Lexus sold 12,223 hybrid vehicles in April. We'll have a post on the domestic hybrids up in a bit. (UPDATE: Available here.)

[Source: Toyota, Detroit Free Press, Honda via AllCarsElectric]