AutoBeta(AutoBeta.net)09/05 Report--

On Sept. 5, Honda China released terminal car sales in August 2023. Data show that Honda's cumulative sales of terminal vehicles in China in August were 102257, down 25.10% from a year earlier to 721639 from January to August, and 23.98% from a year earlier. Honda's electric models include Honda's efficient dual-motor hybrid system, plug-in hybrid system and pure electric models, officials said.

Data show that from January to August this year, Honda's sales in China were 64193, 74142, 82041, 94879, 101321, 113133, 89,691 and 102257, respectively. Judging from the sales data, Honda's sales in China increased month by month in the first six months, fell in July and returned to the 10,000-vehicle class in August. However, according to the analysis of the newly released sales data, Honda's sales in China are still declining compared with the same period last year, and Honda officials did not explain the reasons for the decline. But it is likely to be related to the development of the current car market, and the decline in Honda's sales in China is attributed to its "enigmatic speed" in the field of new energy.

Honda launched a number of new models in China in 2022, including two pure electric models, the e:NP1/e:NS1, which are part of the EVR N brand, but the market performance of these two models was not satisfactory after their launch. From January to July this year, the cumulative sales of e:NP1 and e:NS1 were 3868 and 3024, respectively, according to the retail data of the Federation of passengers.

In other words, under the general trend that new energy vehicles are gradually becoming the mainstream of the market, Honda's main source of sales in China still depends on fuel vehicles. In July, for example, the Civic was the highest with 19051 vehicles, followed by the CR-V with 15635, followed by the styling and Haoying with 9697 and 8681 respectively, with less than 8000 of the rest.

It is worth mentioning that although Honda has renovated the main models including XR-V, CR-V, colorful Zhi, Haoying and Accord, these models have indeed accumulated some word-of-mouth and brand awareness in the domestic market, but with the growing demand for de-fueling and the sharp increase of competitive pressure in China's auto market, the lack of product strength of new models has also led to a retrogression in Honda's sales in China. Take Accord as an example. As one of Honda's best-selling models in the past, its sales in July were only 7110, down 21.07% from the previous month. As for the reason for the decline in Accord sales, it may be affected by Accord replacement.

The new generation Accord went on sale on May 20. as a new generation model, the new car has made comprehensive changes in appearance, size and interior, with fuel version and plug-in hybrid version on the power. however, the launch of the new generation of models has not brought better sales performance. since the launch of the new generation Accord on May 20, it has sold more than 10,000 vehicles a month, including 9008 in June.

China's automobile market is undergoing a transformation from fuel vehicles to electric vehicles, and the development of new energy is in full swing. Independent brand car companies such as BYD and Geely are constantly making efforts in the field of new energy electrification. In the face of the accelerated expansion of China's new energy vehicle market, the lack of enough new energy models with market competitiveness also makes Honda's share of the Chinese market continue to decline. Clearly, Honda China wants to go further, relying solely on fuel cars is not a long-term solution, for Honda China, the top priority is to accelerate the transition to a new energy market.

On July 16, Dongfeng Honda announced in a high profile that Dongfeng Honda will launch its new independent pure electric brand in the second half of this year, with more than 50% electrification by 2025, no new fuel cars after 2027, and more than 10 pure electric models by 2030. Before that, Honda announced that it would no longer launch new fuel cars by 2030 and that 100% of new car sales would be pure electric vehicles by 2035. In other words, Dongfeng Honda announced that it would no longer put fuel cars on the market in 2027, three years earlier than before.

According to the plan, in addition to the e:NS1 model, Dongfeng Honda will also launch the pure electric model e:NS2, which is located in the medium-sized pure electric SUV, but the car will not be available until 2024. At present, Honda China is in a difficult stage of electrification transition, and it remains to be seen whether there will be any major reforms in the future.

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