Honda to start sales of new EV-branded vehicles in China next year

Beijing (Gasgoo)- Japanese automaker Honda Motor Co. will only introduce electrified vehicles from 2030 on in China, with first 10 models from new electric vehicle (EV) brand in the coming five years, the company announced on Wednesday.

In order to help realize both “carbon neutrality” and “zero traffic collision fatalities” by 2050, Honda aims to increase the ratio of EVs and FCVs within overall unit sales to 40% by 2030, to 80% by 2035, and then to 100% by 2040. To achieve the targets, Honda announced it will no longer launch new gasoline-powered models after 2030 in China and will electrify all newly-added models, such as hybrid vehicles and EVs, in the market.

Models from e:N series; photo credit: Honda

At the virtual conference, Honda also unveiled its all-new battery electric vehicle brand, the e:N as well as two mass-produced models from the brand, the e:NS1 to be made by Dongfeng Honda and the e:NP1 to be made by GAC Honda. Both new models will go on sale in China in Spring of 2022.

For expanding the e:N Series portfolio, Honda is working on three concept models, the e:N COUPE Concept, the e:N SUV Concept and the e:N GT Concept, with a goal to start selling these new models within the next 5 years. Honda plans to introduce 10 e:N Series models over the next 5 years, and also envisions exporting these models from China.

Photo credit: Honda

Apart from product development, the automaker will also step up efforts on sales and production including the supply chain. In terms of sales, Honda will create an area dedicated to the e:N series in its dealership locations across the country. Moreover, further ahead, Honda is planning to launch dedicated e:N dealerships in major cities of China, which will specialize in sales of e:N Series models.

Photo credit: Honda

For production, both joint ventures will build new, highly-efficient and environmentally-responsible EV production plants, which are expected to start production in 2024, to strengthen their separate production systems and capabilities.

Photo credit: Honda

As for batteries, Honda will accelerate collaboration with its strategic alliance partner, CATL, and further strengthen its highly-competitive battery supply system.

In the first nine months of this year, Honda sold 1,107,814 vehicles, up by 3.9% from a year earlier. Sales of Honda hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) leapt 31.2% year on year to 169,613 units during the period.