Sept. 17 (Bloomberg) -- Honda Motor Co., the second-largest maker of cars powered by a mix of gasoline and electricity, expects to almost double sales of so-called hybrid cars next year with the introduction of a third model.

Honda will begin selling a hybrid version of its Accord sedan in December and has a target of 20,000 units annually, boosting the company's total sales of hybrid cars to about 45,000, company spokesman Andy Boyd said.

Honda lags rival Toyota Motor Corp., which sells about twice as many hybrids a year. Toyota's Prius hybrid has won celebrity customers such as Cameron Diaz and Leonardo DiCaprio with its fuel economy and styling. Honda has opted to produce hybrid versions of existing models rather than following Toyota's strategy of developing a new car to showcase its technology.

``Honda will probably remain in Toyota's shadow to some extent, given the demand for Prius,' said Brett Smith, an analyst with the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Still, ``both companies are now very far ahead of their U.S. competitors in this technology.''

The U.S. market for hybrids should double to about 150,000 units in 2005, according to Global Insight, an automotive consultancy. That's less than 1 percent of the estimated entire U.S. market of about 17 million vehicles next year.

At Least $30,000

The 2005 Accord Hybrid, set to go on sale Dec. 3, will cost at least $30,000, according to Robert Bienenfeld, U.S. senior manager for product development. That's about $3,000 more than an Accord with a six-valve gasoline engine.

The hybrid engine raises the midsize car's power 6 percent to 255 horsepower, while stretching fuel-economy 43 percent in city driving and 23 percent in highway driving, Honda said.

The new Accord has 7 percent more passenger space than the Toyota Prius, according to Honda. The car accelerates to 60 miles per hour in 7.5 seconds, or almost 3 seconds faster than Prius.

The vehicle can travel as far as 613 miles (981 kilometers) on a full tank of gasoline, 23 percent further than a standard Accord, said Einosuke Nakahara, the car's chief engineer.

Honda will build the model at its factory in Sayama, Japan and currently plans to sell it only in the U.S. and Canada, Bienenfeld said. The company, like Toyota, doesn't disclose the cost of the added hybrid components.

Toyota expects to sell about 50,000 Prius cars in the U.S. this year and plans to increase monthly production of the model by 50 percent next year. Toyota also will begin selling hybrid versions of its Highlander and Lexus RX sport-utility vehicles in early 2005.

To contact the reporter on this story: Alan Ohnsman in Los Angeles at aohnsman@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: September 17, 2004 00:00 EDT