WAKO, Saitama Pref. — Honda Motor Co. said Tuesday it will debut in 2012 a hybrid car that can be charged at home and an electric vehicle in Japan and the United States, a move expected to further fuel competition for environmentally friendly vehicles.
"The business environments surrounding Honda have changed in the past few years," Honda President Takanobu Ito told reporters at one of the carmaker's branches in Wako, adding people are becoming more environmentally conscious and leaning toward compacts.
"It is inevitable that we respond to these changes in the world," he added in the first major news conference detailing Honda's strategy since Ito became president in June 2009.