Honda Motor Co., in three years, is likely to have a finished product that showcases the strides it has made to develop a new hybrid system for larger cars.

Tomohiko Kawanabe, chief operating officer of automobile R&D, said that the research stage is over and that they have entered the field of development. Set to be launched next week are Honda’s gasoline-electric cars such as the Insight and the CR-Z, which use a single electric motor. Toyota Motor Corp.’s Prius uses two motors. When these two carmakers’ systems are compared, Honda’s hybrid system is said to be simple and more affordable.

But if you talk about fuel efficiency, Toyota’s “full” hybrid system wins. Initially, Honda had planned to raise fuel efficiency in its bigger cars by using clean diesel technology.

In late 2008, Honda threw out that strategy and switched to developing a hybrid system that can be used on larger cars such as the Odyssey minivan and Pilot SUV.

While Kawanabe declined to indicate the time frame that the new hybrid system is expected to be ready, he stated that it would be about as long as the three years it takes on average to develop a new vehicle.

Honda is also currently working to develop a small diesel engine for Europe and India. Kawanabe said that the company is doing this to be able to compete in markets like India and Europe.