While the Honda Fit already has a reputation for superior fuel efficiency, the company announced on May 21 that it will offer a gasoline-electric version of the subcompact that should be ready for sale by 2015 or earlier.

The announcement augments Honda's existing plan to offer a Toyota Prius, competitor by next year as well as a "sporty" hybrid and a new design of the Civic hybrid.

Takeo Fukui, the president of Honda, said, "The Fit has great fuel efficiency to begin with, and if you put in a hybrid, it's going to get even better. So with crude oil prices going up this much, I think a Fit hybrid is now starting to make sense."

According to Fukui, the company will strive to make the price difference between the conventional and hybrid Fit no more than $2,000. By the time all four of Honda's planned hybrids are available to consumers the company predicts it will be selling 500,000 hybrid units per year.

Honda's chief competitor in the genre, Toyota, has an annual hybrid sales target of 1 million units by the early 2010s, a goal that will be shored up by brisk sales of the iconic Prius that recently passed the 1 million sold mark.

"We're not interested in comparing ourselves with Toyota," said Fukui, "but I don't think we're going to come in as second runner to them."