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Honda China released its latest sales report on May 8, showing that Honda China terminal car sales in April 2024 were 73831 units, down 22.18% from a year earlier. Among them, Guangzhou Auto Honda was 33510, down 44.61% from the same period last year; Dongfeng Honda was 40321, down 17.28% from the same period last year; in addition, Honda's cumulative sales of China terminals from January to April 2024 were 280738, down 10.9% from the same period last year. Among them, Guangzhou Auto Honda was 141871, down 20.49% from the same period last year, and Dongfeng Honda was 138867, up 1.5% from the same period last year.

As one of the three giants of the Japanese system, Honda is in a far more difficult position in the Chinese market than expected. Fuel cars are becoming more and more difficult to sell, but electric cars are difficult to become great. It is understood that Honda China has experienced a sharp decline after reaching a peak of 1.627 million vehicles in 2020, with sales declining for three consecutive years. Honda's sales in China from 2021 to 2023 were 1.5615 million, 1.3731 million and 1.2342 million respectively, down 4.0%, 12.07% and 10.12% respectively from a year earlier. After entering 2024, Honda's sales decline in China has not been alleviated, falling 10.9% from January to April compared with the same period last year, with cumulative sales of 280700 vehicles.

Honda is increasingly lacklustre in the Chinese market, pinning its future on the electric car market. In July 2023, Honda China announced that it would achieve more than 50% electrification by 2025, no new fuel cars after 2027, and more than 10 pure electric models by 2030. Although Honda has made many changes for the Chinese market, its sales are inevitably in decline.

On April 16, Honda China unveiled its new electric brand, Ye, which will be the first to carry a new logo, which will be based on the all-exclusive architecture of Architecture W, a pure electric car, and will launch a total of six new cars by 2027. At the 2024 Beijing Auto Show, two Ye models, Ye S7 and Ye P7, will be mass-produced by Dongfeng Honda and Guangzhou Auto Honda respectively.

Although Honda's electrification strategy in the Chinese market is very aggressive, its current achievements are particularly mediocre.

At the 2024 Beijing Auto Show, GAC Honda e:NP2 2 advanced version officially went on sale, with the new car being launched at a price of 189800 yuan and a limited time surprise price of 159800 yuan. Dongfeng Honda Shoguang e:NS2 opened the pre-sale, released a total of 4 equipped models, the pre-price is 15.98-179800 yuan. In addition, Dongfeng Honda will also launch the first model of its own brand Lingzhi L this year. Lingzhi brand will have a new LOGO logo, its products will be based on a new pure electric platform, and Lingzhi L will be the brand's first car model.

In the new energy era, China's consumer environment has changed, a distinct feature is that the main group of car buyers is getting younger. From the market point of view, the style of Japanese brands is relatively conservative, while domestic independent brands incubated in fierce competition often launch personalized bold designs to achieve differentiation, which is more in line with the car needs of young people. After the year of the Dragon, following the price reduction of BYD, Honda's Accord, Crown Road, style and other models also began to reduce prices to stimulate consumer desire, but consumers as a whole do not pay the bill, consumers still prefer to choose their own brands or new energy vehicles. The cold wave is still clinging to the flavor of spring, and the new war is continuing. From the current perspective, independent brands have taken the lead in some positions, and Honda, as an international well-known automobile brand, how to hold on to the Chinese market also needs Honda internal thinking.

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