2011 Honda CR-Z, Brake Override Both on Their Way to Honda Customers

Honda has run into a number of challenges so far in 2010, including sales that are lagging the industry and a major delay to its next-generation Honda Civic program. But the company is planning to turn things around by launching a number of potential customer satisfiers in the coming months, including the 2011 Honda CR-Z.

The all-new hybrid is slated to go on sale later this summer, and Honda will continue to build excitement around its launch by debuting it at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles on June 15. The annual event is a major tradeshow for the video-gaming industry, providing an ideal venue for reaching the CR-Z's target audience.

With a design that Honda calls "evocative of video games," the CR-Z features a futuristic appearance, both inside and out. The exterior showcases a bold wedge-shaped look that gives the car an aggressive, forward-leaning stance, while the interior is a high-tech masterpiece that looks like it comes right out of a cutting-edge driving simulator.

Notably, the CR-Z also will bring Honda's hallmark approach to dynamic driving to a whole new segment. The industry's first sport hybrid coupe even offers a "Sport" driving mode that adjusts the CR-Z for performance driving. Once drivers engage the "Sport" mode, the car automatically optimizes engine throttle response, steering effort, electric-motor power assist functionality and more. Yet with a continuously variable transmission, the car still boasts an impressive EPA rating of 36 mpg city/38 mpg highway.

The CR-Z will be the automaker's second dedicated hybrid to go on sale in the U.S. in the past year, following the Honda Insight. The affordable, practical Insight can attain EPA ratings of 40 mpg city/43 mpg highway and is available with a base MSRP of under $20,000. The car has been gaining traction in the U.S. market, with sales up almost 160 percent through April.