A top Honda executive said the company's gas-electric hybrid that will compete directly with Toyota's Prius will be priced lower than the current Civic hybrid.

American Honda Motor executive vice president Richard Colliver told an industry seminar in Traverse City, Mich., that the new five-door, five-passenger hybrid will be launched next spring.

"We believe our IMA hybrid system is best suited for smaller vehicles where the fuel efficiency gains are the greatest," Colliver said. "The challenge especially with small cars is to bring the price down to where more people can afford it. And that is our goal for this new hybrid model -- to make it affordable for a new generation of car buyers."

The Civic hybrid starts at $22,600. The Prius has a base price of $21,500.

Colliver said that Honda is targeting sales of 100,000 units of the new vehicle in North America, and that more hybrid vehicles were on the way.