Toyota And Honda To Invade Korea With Hybrids

Both Honda and Toyota have announced the introduction of hybrid vehicles in the Korean market. Honda is currently getting the Accord hybrid approved for sale in the country (they passed tests on safety, emissions and noise levels earlier this month) and Toyota will start selling the Lexus Rx400h in Korea starting next August (it is not clear if they already sell the Prius in Korea - any Korean reader knows?). This news comes after the announcement that Hyundai and Kia would start producing hybrids (our post about it available here). We're filing this report in the "almost" category because both hybrids mentioned are "performance" hybrids and they probably produce little benefits compared to the average car in Korea (which is probably pretty fuel efficient). The upsides are that people who would otherwise buy a powerful car or SUV now have a better choice and that hybrid technology will certainly "trickle down" to smaller and less powerful vehicles soon.