AutoBeta(AutoBeta.net)05/18 Report--

On May 16, Honda held a press conference on various initiatives of automobile electrification, including the promotion of the goal of electrification, the reform of procurement and production structure, the strategy of electrified product line, financial strategy, and so on. Honda CEO Minhong said that by 2030, Honda will invest 10 trillion yen (about 462 billion yuan) in an effort to make the transition to electrification. That is twice the 5 trillion yen promised by Honda in April 2022.

Three Minhong said that by 2030, Honda will launch a total of seven new electric vehicle models worldwide, and plans to reach 40% of global sales of pure electric vehicles and fuel cell vehicles at the same time. The annual production of pure electric vehicles will reach more than 2 million. By 2040, Honda's goal of achieving 100% of global sales of pure electric vehicles and fuel cell vehicles has not changed, building a strong pure electric vehicle brand and career cornerstone from a medium-to long-term point of view.

As a new series of pure electric vehicles, "Honda 0 Series" plays an important role in the strategy of pure electric vehicles. According to the plan, the "Honda 0 Series" will be first launched in the North American market in 2026, and seven models will be launched worldwide by 2030, covering all types of large, medium and small models. At the CES 2024 Consumer Electronics Show, Honda officially unveiled two "Honda 0" series all-electric concept cars, the SALOON and the SPACE-HUB. The new car will be built with Honda's latest concept and will be equipped with Honda's new LOGO for the first time. It will be first launched in North America in 2026 and then in Asia, Europe, Africa, the Middle East and South America.

In the Chinese market, Honda will launch 10 pure electric models in China by 2027. After 2027, all Honda models launched in China are hybrid and pure electric vehicles, and will no longer be launched with new pure fuel models. By 2035, Honda China will account for 100% of pure electric vehicle sales. This all-electric goal is five years ahead of Honda's global expectations. It is understood that, in addition to the current launch of the eFlux N series, but also through the "Ye" brand to continue to expand the pure electric vehicle product lineup, Dongfeng Honda even launched the "Lingzhi" brand to seek further development.

In fiscal year 2023, Honda achieved extremely remarkable results, with a number of indicators reaching new highs. In the past fiscal year, Honda's operating profit reached 1.38 trillion yen (64.2 billion yuan), an increase of 77 percent over the previous fiscal year and a record high, while the net profit attributed to the parent company was 1.11 trillion yen (51.5 billion yuan), up 70 percent from a year earlier. Japan ranks second only to Toyota. It is understood that Honda's three major global markets are still the United States, China and Japan, with sales in the United States rising 35.5 percent to 1.35 million vehicles, while sales in China were 1.22 million vehicles, down 1.5 percent from a year earlier.

However, the bright performance can not hide the difficult situation of the transformation of Japanese cars. In the face of the catch-up of Chinese competitors in the field of new energy, Japanese cars have lost their advantages in terms of technology and price, and their market share in China has gradually declined. In the face of fierce competition, it was reported that Nissan and Toyota each planned to adjust their production strategies in the Chinese market. Nissan plans to cut its production capacity in China to 30%, while Honda plans to cut its production capacity by 20%.

In terms of strengthening software development, Toyota, Honda and Nissan are considering joining forces and standardizing automotive software, with the goal of starting cooperation after fiscal year 2025, Japanese media reported earlier on Thursday. The parties also hope to extend cooperation to other Japanese automakers, including Suzuki, Mazda, Subaru and Mitsubishi.

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