Honda has a new dedicated hybrid, the five-door, five-passenger, hatchback Insight, will be shown as a concept at the Paris auto show in October with plans to have the vehicle in showrooms by April 2009.

Planned as a model to go head-to-head with the popular Toyota Prius, the new Insight is a considerable step up from the two-seat, first generation version that launched in 1999 and moved only 17,001 before its production run ended in 2006. (Since 1997 the Prius has sold more than 1 million units.)

In a press release, Honda said of the retooled hybrid, "The name Insight was chosen to denote Honda's 'insight' into a new era in which hybrid vehicles come within reach of most car buyers."

Honda hopes to sell 200,000 Insights world-wide on an annual basis with half that number going to American customers. Slightly smaller and lighter than the Civic Hybrid, the Insight will sell for slightly less than both the Civic and the Prius.

Currently the base price for the Civic is $22,600 while the Prius has an opening MSRP of $21,500. In the same release, Honda said, "Thanks to reductions in the weight and size of the Insight's key components, Honda has also achieved significant cost reductions."