Honda halts 3 plants in China to cut output amid declining sales

How could such a large corporation that has manufactured in China for more than two decades not see the trend towards EVs in China and apparently do nothing to adapt?

It would be useful to see the breakdown of the 720K production by ICE, hybrid and EV.

How could such a large corporation that has manufactured in China for more than two decades not see the trend towards EVs in China and apparently do nothing to adapt?

It would be useful to see the breakdown of the 720K production by ICE, hybrid and EV.

And massive state money for Chinese companies????

""Japanese carmakers have been slow to embrace EVs and are struggling to maintain market share globally amid stiff competition from EV makers such as Tesla Inc. and BYD Co.

In August, Honda saw its new vehicle sales in China dive 44.3 percent from a year earlier, down for the seventh straight month.""

EV automobiles are pupping on the rods everywhere NOT just in China, but in Europe, USA, Canada, The Middle East, Africa, South America, and South East Asia only in Japan you don't see so many because of high import taxes, restrictions on importing them, and the Good Old Fashion protectionism.

""  Norway (all-electric vehicles made up 80% of passenger vehicle sales in 2022), Iceland (41%), Sweden (32%), the Netherlands (24%) and China (22%), according to our analysis. Sep 14, 2023""

Source: https://www.wri.org/insights/countries-adopting-electric-vehicles-fastest#:~:text=There%20are%20already%20a%20number,%25)%2C%20according%20to%20our%20analysis.""

But outside China, Honda is kicking butt.

Honda posts record profit,

https://techxplore.com/news/2024-05-honda-profit-issues-cautious.html#google_vignette

Who needs China???

As a joint venture in China why wouldn't Dongfeng Honda have access to any Chinese government or consumer incentives?

Please engage brain before typing. This saves us all some time.

And massive state money for Chinese companies????

Dongfeng Honda Automobile Co., Ltd. is an automobile manufacturing company headquartered in Wuhan, China, and a 50:50 joint-venture between Dongfeng Motor Group and Honda Motor Company. - Wikipedia

Japanese carmakers have been slow to embrace EVs and are struggling to maintain market share globally amid stiff competition from EV makers such as Tesla Inc. and BYD Co.

Buick’s sales numbers are down like Honda’s. Buick will be out of China in time.

Who needs China???

Carmakers whose factories are struggling and can’t sell at home such as Volkswagen.

And massive state money for Chinese companies????

Ever heard of kindling to start a fire? This secret sauce can be used by any country instead of just raising tariffs. The truth is it’s not just about money.

Besides, state subsidies stopped in 2023 for BYD. EV was a new industry. You pay for your kids but after 18, they’re on their own.

As a joint venture in China why wouldn't Dongfeng Honda have access to any Chinese government or consumer incentives?

In China, all foreign companies are joint ventures. They are prohibited from holding stakes of over 50% in their subsidiaries there.

From the internet:

BEIJING, Sept 9 - Passenger vehicle sales in China fell in August for the fifth straight month, industry data showed on Monday, though sales of all-electric and plug-in hybrid models rose, helped by subsidies for drivers trading in more polluting vehicles.

Sales fell 1.1% from the same month a year earlier to 1.92 million vehicles, data from the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) showed. That compared with a 3.1% decline in July.

New energy vehicle (NEV) sales, however, jumped 43.2% to account for a record 53.5% of total car sales, as local EV champion BYD set a sales record and U.S. rival Tesla had its best month of 2024.

Car exports increased 24% after a 20% rise in July.

The numbers reflected waning consumer confidence, with first-time car purchases lagging behind trade-ins, the association said last week.

Apart from the rise of BEV and PHEV, things in China are not as rosy as before. Therefore, some car manufacturers are pulling out. I believe Mitsubishi did it last year.

By the way, EV was predicted to be the future but recently it looks it is not the case. Different kinds of vehicles will co-exist together for the near future.

How could such a large corporation that has manufactured in China for more than two decades not see the trend towards EVs in China and apparently do nothing to adapt?

...and it's a pattern too, not just Honda. Nidec went in to make e-axle despite most of the 'big' domestic EV makers developing their own drivetrain, using none other than Euro and Japanese engineers. I can only guess they don't want to believe the intel given to them.

Well the Honda Crider my brother in law owns in Shanghai is not a good looking car so maybe that has something to do with Honda sales over there.

And massive state money for Chinese companies????

Ever heard of kindling to start a fire? This secret sauce can be used by any country instead of just raising tariffs. The truth is it’s not just about money.

So true. And it worked. The subsidies were phased out in 2022. This article stated honda has issues and is unable to compete, partly due to subsidies. That's no longer true. People now buying EVs just because they are satisfied they won't have charging anxiety and the infrastructure and market are well enough developed. they just happen to be better for inner city smog levels too. Not saying it's perfect in China but they are way ahead of the West.and chargers work and people don't vandalise them.

Japanese companies really need to up their games or they will lose Asia. America and (most of Europe) will be ICE dominated for many more years yet.

Honda "Prelude" was the best Japanese car I ever drove, as Japan 's golden decades gone, some of their corporations gone with the wind. Honda is not that impressive in China in the last 30 years, "Accord" was not that welcomed by Chinese customers, besides Lexus has done very well, the rest were struggling in China market !