Honda has bad news and good news about its electrification strategy in Australia.
The bad news is there will likely be no full battery electric vehicle (EV) introduced in Australia within the next three – and possibly even up to five – years.
This means the Honda e city car created mainly for Europe and Japan will not be coming here, nor will the 2024 Prologue SUV co-developed with General Motors and based on the next-generation Chevrolet Blazer for the North American market.
The good news is that Honda will go all-in with EVs for Australia by 2028, which by then will include at least three still-secret SUV models in small, medium and large sizes.
In other words, Honda is giving what buyers demand in order to survive and prosper.
While refusing to divulge what these coming EV SUVs are, Honda Australia Director, Carolyn McMahon, believes that there is no point releasing EVs in this market unless they meet key requirements.
These include having the mass-market appeal to consumers (which means they have to be SUVs and crossovers), suit the conditions with sufficient range between recharges (essential for rural buyers), and that the infrastructure nationally is ready to handle the inevitable demand.
“Not until the mid term… and we’re talking years,” she told the Australia media the launch of the Honda Civic Type R in Melbourne recently.
“I’d be saying the next five years. But, having said that, we’re continuing to monitor the market, (assessing) what vehicles might be available to us, what’s shifting in the market… we have our set product plan periods, but we are also open to what changes happen and what opportunities there might be.”
Denying that Honda Australia is dragging its feet with electrification, McMahon emphasised the importance to transition from internal combustion engine models to hybrids (like the HR-V e:HEV and Civic e:HEV), and then to EVs.
“When we take a look at the Australian market’s readiness and ability to cope with electric vehicles, we don’t think it’s quite yet there,” she revealed.
“The other critical point is our regional and rural Australian market, and for us right now, we think hybrid is right. That’s not to say that Honda won’t be looking at electric vehicles in the future. Honda has invested $55 billion into electrification tech, with 30 (EV) models by 2030.
“So, I am really excited and confident that in the longer term we’ll have models here in Australia, but in the medium term we think we have got it right with hybrid.”
She also added that Honda has been at the forefront of electrification since releasing Australia’s first petrol-electric hybrid vehicle in March, 2001 – some six months before Toyota launched the original Prius here – with the Insight, and has then continued to offer hybrids in Civic, Accord and other models (albeit sporadically) ever since.
“I wouldn’t say it is not important for us to get an electric car”, McMahon said. “I think our (switch to offering hybrid options across each model range) strategy at the moment is right for us right now.”
Asked if the change of government last May to a more EV-friendly one might speed things up on the EV front, McMahon said that it has made little difference since the hybrid-to-EV transition plans have been in place for a number of years already.
“Not necessarily, because our mid-term plan was always hybrid irrespective of the government policy,” she said.
“Hybrid is a step or bridge to electrification, and I don’t want to mislead anyone: Honda will eventually get to EV. But, for the moment, we think our expansion of our current mode line-up with hybrid variants is the right way for us to go.”
Keyword: No Honda electric cars for Australia for now... but the EVs that are coming should knock your socks off, so watch out Tesla and Hyundai!