RENEE MONTAGNE, host: NPR's business news starts with hybrid competition.</s>RENEE MONTAGNE, host: Toyota has rolled out a new Prius. The latest model of the popular gas-electric hybrid will need to fend off tough competition from Honda. Honda's new hybrid, the Insight, is cheaper than the Prius. And it's become so popular in Japan, last month it topped the list of best-selling cars there, a first for a hybrid. And that has forced Toyota to lower the price of its newest Prius.
The latest model of the popular gasoline-electric hybrid will need to fend off tough new competition from Honda. Toyota used to dominate the hybrid market. But Honda's new Insight became the first hybrid to top the best-sellers' list in Japan last month. Toyota's third-generation Prius hybrid is displayed Monday at a showroom in Tokyo. 