Citing massive losses and a cooling market, the Japanese auto giant is backing away from an all-electric future in a huge blow to the EV industry and a sign that the road to clean cars just got a lot bumpier.
Citing massive losses and a cooling market, the Japanese auto giant is backing away from an all-electric future in a huge blow to the EV industry and a sign that the road to clean cars just got a lot bumpier.
That just reinforces my argument that they never were a major EV player.
I think what the article is trying to say, albeit poorly, is that Honda is a huge player in the automobile space and the fact that they’re not committing to EVs might make other car makers wary.
Well, that’s giving them the benefit of doubt. I guess “ICE automaker reticent about EVs now even more reticent” doesn’t make for a great article.
This is the correct parsing. Honda has never successfully released a BEV of their own (only rebranded one), but they did launch some major efforts to get there. So far, none have worked out, and it sounds like they’re abandoning the goal.
It is a bit strange that all of the Japanese automakers are making such a poor effort. Is there something about Japan that makes BEVs unviable? Honda and Subaru have none, Toyota only has 1, while Mazda and Nissan only have 2.
Japanese companies tend to either lead the way in terms of innovation or drag their heels.
In terms of cars, I think it’s just ignorance. They do a lot of sales in cheaper markets and to Americans, so that tints their thinking. Unfortunately, it’ll mean they’ll die out as it really looks like the likes of BYD and Xpeng are here to stay and since Japan are so determined to give up their spots, they’ll be taken.
That said, this might be what pushes them fully towards robotics.
Might also be due to very low pressure in their internal market. They have a very good public transit system, cars are not that impactful.
Which is also untrue, they’re a middling player in the auto space who have been second string in the rankings for years
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_automotive_manufacturers_by_production
2020 was their best ranking where they got to 5th, in the years previously, they’re in 7th or 8th pretty much every year in the last 2 decades, and they’re 9th in 2024.
A lot of the small players are going to get squeezed out by the Chinese; and Honda, Suzuki and Mazda are very likely to need a merger with a bigger player to survive as brands