<http://schema.org/articleBody>
" Honda Motor Co., Ltd. president and CEO, Takanobu Ito, announced during a speech in Tokyo, Japan, that Honda will have both a battery-electric commuter vehicle as well as a plug-in hybrid on sale in the U.S. by 2012. Ito, who has been president of Honda for just over one year, made the announcements during his mid-year address. Among the news bits Ito gave out, he also said: &amp;quot;...we have entered into the stage where we need to draw up and execute a new growth strategy. In the past several years, consumer preference has quickly shifted toward smaller sized vehicles in every automobile market around the world due to increasing environmental awareness on a global basis...Honda must quickly respond to such changes in the times to achieve further growth and expansion in the future.&amp;quot; Other information gleaned from Ito&amp;#039;s speech:  The city of Torrance, California, will receive a plug-in hybrid for &amp;quot;evaluation&amp;quot; by the end of this year. The next-generation Honda Civic Hybrid will feature Honda&amp;#039;s first hybrid application of a lithium-ion battery in 2011. The battery was developed through a joint venture of Honda and GS Yuasa, called Blue Energy Co., Ltd. A new plug-in hybrid system for mid-size to larger vehicles will be introduced to the U.S. market sometime in 2012.  Related posts:  Audi Commissions Electric Vehicle R&amp;amp;amp;D Site Nissan to Deliver First Leaf Electric Vehicle Electric Vehicle Industry Descends on Los Angeles  "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.roadandtrack.com/new-cars/news/a1202/honda-to-have-battery-electric-vehicle-in-us-by-2012-13821/>