Honda is a formidable brand. Since they first set foot in Malaysia in 1958, their vehicles have been reliable, high-performance and have given their owners the status of “have-beens”. Yesterday Honda published a report for the fiscal year 2025 (ending March 2026) and recorded its first annual loss in 70 years.
Honda recorded a loss of 423 billion Yen (~RM 10.5 billion) due to EV investments that failed to yield returns and EV demand was also weaker than expected. They will reduce EV production targets and source components from China to reduce costs.
The new focus of the company founded by Soichiro Honda is motorcycles, financial services and hybrid vehicles. Meanwhile, North America, Japan and India will be the main markets for future growth.
Plans to build an EV and battery factory in Canada have been canceled. Also canceled was the target of making EVs 20% of vehicles produced by 2030 and the target of all vehicles being EVs by 2040. Last March Honda canceled three EV models Honda 0 SUV, Honda 0 Saloon and Acura RSX. As a result Sony AFEELA also died because Honda was Sony's first EV development partner.
The expected boom in EV purchases did not materialize with this happening in almost all markets except Scandinavia and China. China, which only three decades ago did not have a dynamic automotive industry, is now a global EV powerhouse. Legacy manufacturers that were late to offer their own EV models are now lagging behind with models offered failing to attract interest.
Ford has converted its battery and electric truck factories into factories producing data center battery packs. Volkswagen sold a subsidiary and closed the factory, transforming it into an AI, chip and weapons factory for Israel. Lamborghini canceled EVs entirely and this week Porsche closed its entire battery and electric bicycle factory also due to the failure of its EV strategy.
