Honda Ends Three Green Models For 2015: Insight, Fit EV, FCX Clarity

With the new and more fuel-efficient Honda Fit hatchback now on sale, the Japanese carmaker is slimming down its lineup a bit.

For 2015, it has eliminated three low-selling green cars: the Honda Insight hybrid subcompact, the Honda Fit EV electric car, and the very low-volume Honda FCX Clarity hydrogen fuel-cell vehicle.

DON'T MISS: 2015 Honda Fit: Quick Gas Mileage Drive Of All-New Hatchback

The new subcompact 2015 Fit, rated at 36 mpg combined, carries a starting price of $16,315 including delivery--which would have made the smaller 42-mpg Insight an even tougher sell at $3,000 more.

In hybrid technology, the company has refocused its efforts on a two-motor hybrid system for mid-size and larger vehicles.

The first of these is the Honda Accord Hybrid, which competes in the high-volume mid-size sedan segment against hybrid models of the Ford Fusion, Hyundai Sonata, Kia Optima, and Toyota Camry--as well as, arguably., the Toyota Prius Liftback.

ALSO SEE: Green Car Reports' Best Car To Buy: 2014 Honda Accord Hybrid

Each of the three departed models met its maker for a different reason.

Insight: sales disappointment

The Honda Insight was expected to compete head-to-head with the third-generation Toyota Prius when the two 2010 models launched within weeks of each other in the spring of 2009. But it didn't work out that way.

The Insight was smaller and sportier to drive, and it carried the lowest sticker price of any hybrid sold in the U.S.

But its mild-hybrid powertrain (rated at 41 mpg combined when it launched) offered neither the 50-mpg fuel economy ratings of the 2010 Prius nor the ability to run all-electrically.

Meanwhile, even the previous-generation Fit subcompact next to it on showroom floors offered more interior space for several thousand dollars less--and a combined gas-mileage rating of 31 mpg.

While Honda hoped the Insight would become its best-selling global hybrid model, the little hatchback never came close to the company's volume projections--selling less than half the planned volume in the first year, and less in later years.

MORE DETAIL: Honda Insight Hybrid Production To End (Feb 2014)