Honda's Hybrid car

Honda introduced Thursday the cheapest hybrid on market, starting at 1.89 million yen ($21,000) in Japan and under $20,000 in the US, hoping to turn around sluggish sales battered by the global downturn.

Even Honda Motor Co. officials acknowledged the timing was tough for the Insight gas-electric hybrid, which hits showrooms in the middle of a devastating slump, especially in the North American market that's the main target market.

Also, oil prices have tumbled from their peak last July, detracting from the appeal of gas-sipping hybrids. Insight gets as much as 30 kilometers a liter, or 43 miles a gallon, according to Honda.

"If the Insight had gone on sale a half year earlier, it would have been such a sure hot-seller," Norio Ano, who oversees auto development at Honda, told The Associated Press.