Honda (HMC.US) is firmly implementing the strategy of “abandoning electricity and switching to mixing”! Plans to spend 2.5 billion US dollars to build a new hybrid car factory in the US

The Zhitong Finance App learned that according to reports, Honda Motor Company (HMC.US) plans to build a new hybrid vehicle production plant in Ohio, USA, and the project is in the final stages of preparation. According to reports, Honda plans to invest about 300 billion to 400 billion yen (about 1.9 billion US dollars to 2.53 billion US dollars) in this new plant, and production is expected to begin in 2030.

The North American market is the “guiding principle” for Honda's automobile business. Financial reports released last month showed that the US market contributed about half of Honda's global car sales in the first fiscal quarter. The weakening yen further amplified the book value of overseas profits. In terms of tariff costs, Honda said the impact of the current season's tariffs has been digested.

In May, Honda announced its first annual loss in 70 years, driven by restructuring costs of more than 9 billion US dollars of strategic failure in the electric vehicle business and huge competitive pressure applied by Chinese competitors. The company's CEO Minohiro Sanbu said at the annual shareholders' meeting in June that when electric vehicle subsidies were being withdrawn, Honda decided to make large-scale write-offs related to electric vehicles, mainly because the market share of battery-powered electric vehicles in the US fell far short of the company's expectations, which meant that selling its planned electric vehicle models would require significant incentives.

Minhiro Mibu said that if the company continues to promote its planned sales of electric vehicles, “this will mean that the overall automobile business itself will maintain operating losses for at least five years, and possibly as long as seven years,” adding that this will plunge the company into an extremely critical long-term unfavorable situation. At the same time, the company changed its strategy to a more realistic cash flow outlook driven by hybrids and traditional fuel vehicles, which have strong advantages in the industry, and began an intelligent and software-based cooperation process.

Honda plans to launch 15 new hybrid models by March 2030, mainly for the North American market. Honda plans to stop selling its only all-electric Prologue SUV in the US this year, and indefinitely shelve plans to establish an electric vehicle battery supply chain in Canada. This marks Honda's shift from an aggressive electrification strategy to a pragmatic path centered on hybrid power.

In the field of software-defined automobiles, Honda and Nissan are promoting joint development of central electronic control units (ECUs), aiming to launch standardized components around 2029. Honda CEO Toshihiro Mibe has publicly confirmed that the two sides are discussing this cooperation.