• MSNBC/Newsweek, Tuesday, August 28, 2007 10:15 AM

Honda is working on a new high-profile hybrid--a Prius fighter that analysts expect will have the highest mileage on the road when it arrives in 2009. Code-named the "Global Small Hybrid," the new gas-electric model won't replicate anything else in its lineup. Instead, Honda execs say it will be a five-passenger, small family car priced under $22,000.

In the low-octane race for the environmental high ground, Honda is running a distant second to Toyota, despite the fact that Honda was first to sell a hybrid in America and remains a darling of the green movement. But to the average car buyer, Honda's hybrids are all but invisible. Other than a hybrid badge on the trunk, for example, its hybrid Civics look just like regular Civics.

This time, Honda won't make the mistake of wrapping its hybrid in the sheet metal of its everyday cars. Instead, analysts expect the new Honda will have the larva styling the Prius pioneered, which now embodies the green-car look.

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