Honda doubts pace of the EV market, revises plans

Honda has said it is reconsidering its previous expectations of uptake of electric vehicles and will ease off its EV development while producing more hybrids.

It had previously stated that in 2030 30% of its vehicle sales would be pure electric vehicles, but it now expects these to represent 20% of its mix at that point.

"It's really hard to read the market, but at the moment we see EVs accounting for about a fifth by then," said Honda chief executive Toshihiro Mibe.

Japan's second largest carmaker has cut back its planned investment in electrification and software by 2030 by 30%. 

It reiterated, nevertheless, that by 2040 it plans for battery-powered and fuel-cell vehicles to make up all of its new car sales.

In October 2024 Honda set out its electric vehicle strategy that will launch a new range of EVs as part of its 0 Series including a new flagship saloon from 2026. The Japanese brand said it was planning to launch seven new EVs globally by 2030, including small, medium and large segment vehicles.

Each of these new Series 0 models will be developed on a dedicated EV platform. Part of this new technology will look at limiting battery degradation to less than 10% after 10 years of year.

In today's business briefing, Mibe said Honda plans to launch 13 next-generation hybrid models globally in the four years from 2027.

It already offers more than a dozen hybrid models worldwide and has more than 25 years of experience in developing hybrid powertrains. 

In the UK, where its Jazz, Civic, HR-V, ZR-V and CR-V cars are all available with its e:HEV hybrid powertrains as standard, Honda has moved away from chasing market share to prioritise profitable business, and its annual new car sales volume has dropped below 40,000 units, coupled with a restructuring of its dealership network which has improved profitability for remaining franchisees.

It will add the new Honda Prelude hybrid to its range in 2026.

Honda UK offers only one pure electric car currently, the e:Ny1 SUV (pictured below), which has a range of up to 256 miles (WLTP). To support the EV's sale it has a special offer until May 31 2025 of £469 per month with 0% APR finance and a £5,000 deposit contribution, plus a Honda Customer Care Package which includes five scheduled services, a two year extended warranty, and two year roadside assistance.

Europe is a relatively small part of Honda's global market, and in 2021 it closed its car factory at Swindon.

In its last financial year, ending March 31, 2025, Honda reported that just 93,000 of its 3.7 million global car sales were in Europe. In contrast, it sold almost 1.7m cars in North America.

It expects its European sales to fall this year to 90,000 units.