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On July 16, Dongfeng Honda officially announced that the proportion of electrification will reach more than 50% by 2025, no new fuel cars will be put into use after 2027, and more than 10 pure electric models will be launched by 2030. When Dongfeng Honda's new energy layout is further improved, it will compete directly with BYD.

At the 2023 Shanghai Auto Show, Honda China announced that it would fully enter the electric era. After 2027, all Honda models launched in China will be hybrid and pure electric vehicles, and will no longer launch new pure fuel models. By 2035, Honda China will account for 100% of pure electric vehicle sales. Earlier, Honda China announced that it would sell only pure electric and hybrid models in the Chinese market from 2030, instead of new fuel vehicles. Honda China had to advance its electrification process against the backdrop of the rapid growth of new energy vehicles.

At the scene of the 2023 Shanghai Auto Show, Honda China's eDren brand launched three pure electric vehicles in the world, including e:NP2, which will be launched by GAC Honda in early 2024, and e:NS2, which will be launched by Dongfeng Honda in early 2024. The launch is close to the final design of the prototype model-e:NP2 Prototype, which is developed and built by Honda's China team and comes from the intelligent and efficient pure electric architecture of pure electric vehicles. "eDrex N Architecture F". It is understood that Dongfeng Honda e:NS2 listed in early 2024, positioning medium-sized pure electric SUV.

As one of the three giants of the Japanese system, Honda's life in the Chinese market is getting harder and harder. Honda's terminal sales in China were 1.3731 million in 2022, down 12.1 per cent from a year earlier. Honda's cumulative sales of terminal cars in China in the first half of the year were 529700, down 22.0% from a year earlier. In the domestic passenger car companies from January to June 2023, Guangzhou Auto Honda and Dongfeng Honda both fell out of the top 10.

Although Honda is determined to make the transition in the electrified field, the sales of pure electric models are not satisfactory among the products already on the market. At present, Honda has launched the production of two pure electric models of the e:NS1/e:NP1 in China, the two sister models, the former by Dongfeng Honda and the latter by Guangzhou Auto Honda, targeting the small pure electric SUV, but sales of the two models have been depressed since their launch. Take the first half sales as an example, Dongfeng Honda e:NS1 cumulative sales of 2882 vehicles, Guangzhou Auto Honda e:NP1 of 3364 vehicles.

At the same time, Honda has begun to abandon the gas-electric hybrid and begin to layout the plug-in hybrid. The new CR-V e:PHEV went on sale on March 10. The new car is equipped with the fourth-generation i-MMD dual-motor hybrid technology. The current price range is 22.59-269900 yuan. In addition, Accord, Haoying and Yingshi School have also launched plug-in hybrid models, in which Haoying e:PHEV price range is 22.59-259900 yuan. Data show that CR-V e:PHEV sales in the first half of the year were 3581, while Haoying e:PHEV was 2812. Compared with other plug-in hybrid models in China, Honda plug-in hybrid models have no advantage in price and are not competitive in products.

It can be seen that, whether it is pure electricity or plug-in, Honda is under a lot of pressure to transform into new energy, and it will still rely mainly on fuel cars to get sales for a long time in the future, but Honda fuel cars are not easy to sell now. Honda's best seller in the first half of the year was Accord, which sold 94400 vehicles, but not as much as Camry, which sold 102500. In addition, the CR-V and Civic are 70100 and 52700 respectively, while the other models are all under 50, 000.

Fuel cars are difficult to sell and electric cars are not popular, which is a difficult problem that Honda has to face in China. In terms of products, although Honda has renovated the main models, including XR-V, CR-V, colorful Intelligence, Haoying and so on, these models have definitely accumulated some word-of-mouth and brand awareness in the domestic market, but today, with the increasing calls for de-fueling, the updates of these products are only aimed at the appearance and interior, no matter how comprehensive the Honda CONNECT 3.0 system is used. Can not change the fact that they are "backward" in the design concept.

Honda in the era of fuel cars, "one Japan, lifelong Honda" has become the loyal slogan of Honda fans, which is the resonance of users brought by the strong product power, but the consumer groups who have experienced the baptism of new energy development and changes, the market is becoming more rational, when the product advantage is no longer, consumers will always choose other brands.

Chief executive Toshihiro Mibu said at the 2023 Shanghai Auto Show that other car brands are far ahead of Honda in electrification, which is much higher than Honda expected. Honda will lose the game if Honda does not adopt a counterattack strategy. It is understood that Honda unveiled the Accord e: PHEV and two other concept cars at the 2023 Shanghai Auto Show, but three Minhong found it difficult to compete with Chinese electric cars after watching the show.

Honda is aware of the problem and is making every effort to speed up the layout of electric cars. In January this year, Honda announced a comprehensive overhaul of its corporate structure in China to speed up the electrification of its products, including the merger of Honda Technology (China) Co., Ltd. (HMCT) with Honda production Technology (China) Co., Ltd. (EGCH) and the reduction of six major global market segments to "North America, China and other regions". And set up a new electric business development headquarters to be more focused on the electric vehicle business.

The cold wave is still clinging to the flavor of spring, and the new war is continuing. Tesla's low-cost model has been released, and the upcoming Xiaomi cars are likely to seize the position of traditional joint venture brands, but at least from the current perspective, independent brands are already ahead of some positions, and Honda, as an international well-known car brand, how to hold on to the Chinese market also needs Honda internal thinking.

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