Honda Announces FCX Clarity Business Plan and Commencement of Customer Selection...

Honda Announces FCX Clarity Business Plan and Commencement of Customer
Selection Process
Program marks first-ever large-scale retail initiative for a fuel cell vehicle

TORRANCE, Calif., May 20 /PRNewswire/ -- Honda plans to deliver about 200
FCX Clarity hydrogen-powered fuel cell vehicles to customers in the first
three years of production, with leases beginning in July, American Honda Motor
Co., Inc., announced today. The lease program marks the world's first
large-scale retail initiative for fuel cell vehicle technology, and Honda has
begun the process of identifying customers from a group of over 50,000
individuals who have expressed interest in the FCX Clarity on the company's
website.
Honda will announce its first customers when the first FCX Clarity rolls
off the production line at a ceremony on June 16, 2008 in Japan, where Honda
will also showcase the world's first dedicated fuel cell vehicle production
facility. Additionally, Honda will announce further plans for involvement by
Honda dealerships in the U.S., as well as future customer care and customer
qualification initiatives.
"Our customers for the current generation FCX have played an important
role in our advancement of Honda fuel cell vehicle technology," said John
Mendel, executive vice president of American Honda. "The first FCX Clarity
customers represent the early adopters who will play a critical role in the
mainstreaming of fuel cell cars.
"We remain firmly convinced that the hydrogen-powered fuel cell car
represents one of the best long-term solutions to the world's growing
environmental and energy concerns," added Mendel. "With the launch of the FCX
Clarity lease program, we will begin making fuel cell vehicles a market
reality allowing customers to participate in creating a cleaner and more
sustainable transportation future."
The FCX Clarity launch began in October 2005 with the unveiling of the
next-generation FCX Concept vehicle at the Tokyo Motor Show, which was
followed in November 2007 by the debut of the FCX Clarity production model at
the Los Angeles Auto Show, where the company announced plans to begin leasing
vehicles to customers in the U.S. Initially, the program will be based on a
3-year lease term with a price of $600 per month and will be targeted at
consumers in Southern California.
Customer selection process
Honda expects to lease several dozen FCX Clarity models per year in the
U.S. and Japan to reach the total of about 200 units in the first three years.
Since its Tokyo concept debut, Honda has received requests from more than
50,000 individuals who have indicated their interest in receiving further
updates about the vehicle and about being considered as future customers of
Honda fuel cell technology. The company is now working to narrow the list
through a four-step customer qualification process:
-- Step 1 -- Based on respondents' residential location, the list of
potential customers has been narrowed to approximately 500 people
living in very close proximity to publicly-accessible hydrogen fueling
stations, including planned or existing stations in Santa Monica,
Torrance and Irvine.
-- Step 2 -- Customers meeting the geographical criteria will receive an
e-mail prompting them to take a customer selection survey if they are
serious about wanting to lease an FCX Clarity.
-- Step 3 - The survey will qualify customers based on driving patterns,
vehicle needs, vehicle storage and financial criteria.
-- Step 4 -- Customers qualify for the next steps, including an interview
with American Honda.

Everyone who has expressed an interest in the FCX Clarity will be kept
abreast of new developments via the FCX Clarity web site and by e-mail
communications. All interested prospects' information will be retained for
future consideration.
About the FCX Clarity
The FCX Clarity is a next-generation, hydrogen-powered fuel cell vehicle.
Propelled by an electric motor that runs on electricity generated in the fuel
cell, its only emission is water, and its fuel efficiency is three times that
of a modern gasoline-powered automobile.
Based on the entirely-new Honda V Flow fuel cell platform, and powered by
a highly compact, efficient and powerful new Honda V Flow fuel cell stack, the
FCX Clarity marks the significant progress Honda continues to make in
advancing the real-world performance and appeal of the fuel cell car.
Significant advances over Honda's previous generation FCX include:
-- an advanced new four-passenger sedan design
-- a greater than 30 percent increase in driving range to 270 miles(1)
-- a 20 percent increase in fuel economy to 68mpg(2)
-- a 48 percent increase in fuel cell stack power density
-- a 40 percent smaller and 50 percent lighter new lithium-ion battery
pack

Honda is responsible for the development of the world's first fuel cell
car to be certified for regular commercial use by the U.S. EPA and California
Air Resources Board; the first commercial lease of a fuel cell car to a fleet
customer; and the first individual retail customer for a fuel cell vehicle.
Honda and the Environment
Based on its philosophy of being a company "society want to exist", Honda
has been a leader in the development of cleaner and more fuel efficient
products for more than thirty years, beginning in 1975 with the introduction
of the Civic CVCC, the first vehicle to meet U.S. Clean Air Act exhaust
emissions standards without a catalyst. Honda introduced the world's first Low
(LEV), Ultra-Low (ULEV) and Super Ultra-Low (SULEV) emissions gasoline
vehicles, and America's first low emission gasoline-electric hybrid vehicle,
the Honda Insight, in December 1999. The company has been recognized four
consecutive times as America's "greenest automaker" by the Union of Concerned
Scientists, most recently in 2007, and has maintained the highest automobile
fleet-average fuel efficiency (lowest fleet-average CO2 emissions) of any U.S.
automaker over the past 15 years(3). The company is accelerating its efforts
to introduce more fuel-efficient vehicles, including an all-new, more
affordable hybrid Honda slated for introduction in 2009.
(1) Preliminary Honda estimate, based on existing EPA range methodology

(2) Honda estimate of EPA city-highway combined fuel economy rating for
FCX Clarity

(3) Average sales-weighted fuel consumption for 1992-2007 mid-model year
passenger-car and light-truck fleets sold in the U.S. based on final
CAFE reports through 2006 and 2007 mid-year reports

SOURCE Honda

Sage Marie, +1-310-200-8359, or Christina Ra, +1-310-795-8584, both of Honda