Just when I had my hopes up for an exciting Honda EV, the company has announced that it is cancelling both the Zero Series SUV/Saloon and the Acura RSX EVs.
According to The Verge, the Japanese automaker cited an “extremely challenging situation” as the reason for cancelling the upcoming EV projects. The automaker also noted that it expected to incur a net loss of around ¥360 billion (approx. C$3 billion) to ¥630 billion (approx. C$5.4 billion) in its fiscal year ending this month.
Interestingly, The Financial Times noted that this would be Honda’s first-ever annual recorded loss since becoming a public company 50 years ago.
Honda had been one of the most aggressive automakers in pursuing EV sales (even though representatives admitted to me that EV sales had been stagnant for the last decade), noting that they were aiming for 30 new EVs by 2030, with two million units sold, and 100 percent zero-emission auto sales by 2040. They also noted the aspiration to achieve carbon neutrality across all products and corporate activities by 2050.
Now, though, this EV investment is projected to result in a net loss of ¥340 billion to ¥ 570 billion (C$2.9 billion to C$ 4.87 billion) for the automaker.
The main reason for the cancellation is, as noted by the loss projection, sales. Like many automakers, Honda has been hit hard by US President Donald Trump’s tariffs (it’s almost like those were a bad idea), as well as competition from Chinese EVs. With this in mind, the company decided to end the project before the cars could launch, citing the “current business environment where the demand for EVs is declining significantly.” Instead, the company will lean towards hybrids.
I reviewed this car a year ago at its launch event, so I’m sad to see it go. I honestly thought that with a few changes to meet regulations (which they noted), this could have been a pretty eye-catching vehicle amongst EVs like Hyundai’s Ioniq line, GM, and the Mach-E.
However, Honda is right to end the project. The EV market is all over the place, and neither the infrastructure nor the economy has caught up with where automakers intend to be (remember all those “electric by 2025” announcements?).
Source: The Verge
