MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

“Green fuel” car launched in Mexican market

A Honda hybrid sedan was launched Friday in the Mexican market, which became the first Latin American country to offer consumers a car that runs on both gasoline and electricity.

The Civic Hybrids, which are manufactured in Japan, have a gasoline engine that is smaller and more efficient than that found in conventional vehicles and an electric engine, which provides additional horsepower when necessary. The going price for the Hybrid in Mexico is 26,415 US dollars. Honda Mexico's head of product planning Ricardo Chan, said he was confident the company would meet the sales goal of 450 vehicles this year.

"It's a conservative figure from a certain point of view, but we're taking into account that this is a completely new, virgin, market", said Chan who added that Honda's choice of Mexico as the first market for these vehicles in Latin America was because of the severe air pollution in Mexico City and other big urban areas of the country.

In 2005, auto sales in Mexico grew 3.3% to an annual record of 1.13 million vehicles, according to figures from the Mexican Automotive Industry Association. Honda was sixth in the Mexican market last year in terms of sales, trailing Volkswagen, Nissan and U.S. automakers Ford, General Motors and Chrysler.