Remember the “change something” advert for the diesel engine in the Honda Accord? No? Classic. It featured a diesel engine floating around a psychedelic backdrop and the message was just how quiet and refined and, well, not-very-diesel Honda’s then new i-CDTi diesel engine was. The advert was actually called Grrr. It has its own Wikipedia entry and everything. Watch it here.
Anyways, how times have changed in 16 years, because as of about now-ish you can no longer buy a new Honda with a diesel engine in the UK. There’ll still be a few diesel Honda HR-V models hanging around forecourts for a while, but officially it’s no longer on sale, signalling the death knell for the derv. the CR-V diesel recently went off sale too.
What remains is a line-up that’s either petrol, petrol-electric hybrid or pure electric, with Honda convinced that hybrids more than compensate for the place diesel had in the hears of those who love low running costs. From a tax perspective at least, that’s certainly true.
This is just the latest step in the company’s general shift towards electrification, Honda having released the E electric city car last year, and recently showing an all-electric concept crossover SUV, which will become its next zero emissions model.
Speaking to Auto Express, a Honda spokesperson said: “Honda has accelerated its plans for all its European mainstream car models to be electrified from 2025 to 2022 and our motor petrol hybrid technology will play a key role in achieving this goal. As such, we plan for European production of diesel powertrains to cease by the end of 2022. However, on a local level in the UK, we have now stopped selling diesel cars.”
The 118bhp Honda HR-V -DTEC (the diesel one, that is) returns 68.9mpg officially, albeit that’s measured using the old NEDC test, whereas the 128hbp i-VTEC model (petrol) returns 487.7mpg using the same test. Honda doesn’t currently sell an HR-V hybrid in the UK but that will probably change.
Keyword: Honda scraps diesel in the UK