Honda has joined a growing number of carmakers reevaluating their electrification plans, cancelling a three-row electric SUV aimed at the North American market. The death of the car, which was set to compete with the Hyundai Ioniq 9 and Kia EV9, comes as part of recently-announced plans to scale back the development of pure electric vehicles, reported Carscoops citing Nikkei Asia. In May, the company said it would slash its R&D budget on models due out by 2030 from 10 trillion yen (RM289.6 billion) to 7 trillion yen (RM202.8 billion), with some of the money saved going into hybrid powertrains instead. It also abandoned its goal of having EVs make up 30% of its sales by 2030. The news follows in the footsteps of Ford and Toyota, which have cancelled and delayed their large crossover EVs respectively. Nissan has also delayed its electric Xterra by ten months to November 2028 and its Infiniti sibling to March 2029. Honda’s move is seen to be a reaction to slowing EV demand in many parts of the world, as well as the US recently dissolving a US$7,500 (RM31,900) EV federal tax rebate as part of president Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB). While the 30% drop in spending has led to some casualties, Honda still has several EVs in the pipeline, including the 0 SUV and sedan (the former launching globally next year) set to define a new era for the company, as well as a small city car that will be previewed at the Goodwood Festival of Speed this weekend. Honda is also developing the Afeela 1 in collaboration with Sony. In China, meanwhile, the company already has its three “Ye” EVs – the P7 and S7 SUVs and the soon-to-be-launched GT, all built on a dedicated platform. But Honda is pivoting hard towards hybrids, announcing 13 new models that include the forthcoming Prelude and those built on a new, lighter platform with AWD, the latter set to debut in 2027. The new architecture is touted to reduce costs by up to 30% and improve fuel economy by 10%. As a result, the company estimates hybrid sales to reach 2.2 million units by 2030, with EVs whittling down to around 750,000 units.
