AutoBeta(AutoBeta.net)09/08 Report--

According to domestic media reports, Dongfeng Honda is making major layoffs, which is expected to affect 2000 employees. It is reported that Dongfeng Honda will give the laid-off employees compensation for Never2N1 ("N" represents the number of years of service, "2" refers to two months' salary, and an extra month's bonus). In addition, due to the high standard of compensation, the compensation policy has even been queued for places by employees; the company is suspected of holding a special farewell ceremony for laid-off employees.

As of press time, Dongfeng Honda did not respond to the relevant reports.

As one of the three Japanese giants, Honda has two joint ventures in the Chinese market, namely Dongfeng Honda and Guangzhou Auto Honda. After reaching a sales peak of 820000 vehicles in 2020, with the rapid rise of domestic new energy vehicles and the decline of its product advantage, Dongfeng Honda sales have declined for many years, with terminal sales of 793000, 652000 and 613000 vehicles respectively from 2021 to 2023. After entering 2024, as independent brands, including BYD, accelerated to encroach on the joint venture brand market, Japanese manufacturers, including Dongfeng Honda, suffered a decline in market share. Dongfeng Honda sold a total of 252000 vehicles from January to July in 2024, down 10.54% from a year earlier. In terms of specific models, only two models exceeded 50, 000 in the first July, with the highest sales of the CR-V, 98600, and the Civic, 63000. The once-popular XR-V sales were low, and the replacement of the elite was also an embarrassing task.

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. Honda's dilemma in the Chinese market is that fuel cars are becoming more and more difficult to sell and electric cars are difficult to become big, but Honda doesn't seem to have any ingenious ways to deal with it.

On July 26, Honda China announced that it would close two factories. GAC Honda plans to close its fourth production line with an annual capacity of 50, 000 units in October 2024, while Dongfeng Honda plans to close its second production line with an annual capacity of 240000 units in November 2024. After the adjustment, Honda's total car production capacity in China has been changed from 1.49 million to 1.2 million. At the same time, Dongfeng Honda's new electric dedicated plant under construction will be put into production in September 2024, and Guangzhou Auto Honda's new new energy plant will be put into production in November 2024. It is understood that Honda plans to make up for the capacity reduction through two new electric car plants under construction and is expected to restore capacity to 1.44 million vehicles. Although Honda is aware of the problem and is making every effort to speed up the layout of electric cars, it is unclear whether Honda can reverse the market situation.

In fact, apart from Honda, other Japanese brands are also having a hard time, including Toyota. On September 6, Nissan China announced its results for China in August 2024. Data show that Dongfeng Nissan (including Nissan, Qichen and Infiniti brands) sold 46479 units in August 2024, down 28.39% from a year earlier, while Nissan's cumulative sales in China totaled 435603 units as of August 2024, down 9.80% from a year earlier.

Makoto Uchida, president and chief executive of Nissan, said in an interview that Chinese carmakers were "getting stronger" and that Nissan was caught in a "survival game" in the Chinese market. 'The needs of Chinese customers are very different from those in other regions, and if we continue to do things the way we used to do, I don't think we have a good chance of survival,'he said. Nissan is committed to staying in China and is planning to work with local companies to remain competitive. Chinese carmakers can develop new cars at an alarming rate, and Nissan is working with its Chinese partner Dongfeng Automobile Group to export more cars from China and possibly to Europe.

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