Honda Ceo Is All About Hybrids Now That Ev Adoption Is ‘pushed Back 5-6 Years’

Honda CEO Toshihiro Mibe is adjusting his company’s course after recent events drastically altered the global outlook for combustion and electric vehicles. During the company’s annual business briefing, Mibe justified slashing Honda‘s global sales estimate for EVs while expecting hybrid sales to double between now and 2027.

Last year, Honda announced it expected to move somewhere around 2 million EVs over the next two years. That projected figure now sits at around 700,000 to 750,000 units. According to Automotive News, hybrid sales could instead skyrocket to over 2 million during the same time frame.

“It has become increasingly clear that the environmental regulations, which held promise for the widespread adoption of EVs, are becoming relaxed, mainly in the U.S. and Europe,” Mibe said. “In addition, the recent development in trade policies of various countries makes our business environment increasingly uncertain.

“If the EV penetration period is pushed back a little, I feel that it will be pushed back by about five years, especially in North America,” Mibe added. “The Trump administration will remain in power for four years, but that doesn’t mean that EV demand will bounce back immediately. I think it will be pushed back by about five to six years.“

While insightful, Mibe’s comments don’t exactly come as a surprise. Automakers throughout the globe remain invested—and therefore, persistent—in EV manufacturing and sales. However, they’re all dialing back their original estimates, which many analysts would claim were bullish to begin with. Perhaps the current climate is acting as a sort of reset button that’s emphasizing hybrids and PHEVs as the bridge to EVs.

It’s worth noting that Mibe’s mention of the Trump administration’s stance on EVs backs up what Honda’s former electrification boss, Shinji Aoyama, and President and CEO of American Honda, Kazuhiro Takizawa, told The Drive in August of last year. When asked what a possible Trump second term (at the time) would do to the company’s EV plans, Aoyama explained that such a thing would be foreseen by Honda (and therefore not a surprise). He also alluded that nothing lasts forever, meaning that the trajectory of EV development would continue, only with a built-in delay due to the political climate.

Mibe’s comments that EV demand would eventually resume growing lines up with the company’s long-term thinking, first shared with us in 2024.

“In contrast to the slowdown in the EV shift, demand for hybrid-electric vehicles is growing,” Mibe said. “In the end, the value of battery-electric vehicles is not yet equal to or greater than the value of the existing hybrid or plug-in hybrid vehicles. That is the main reason why customers have not yet jumped on the EV bandwagon.”

Honda has been on the hybrid bandwagon for many years, but it’s intensified its presence in the segment considerably recently. Even its racing portfolio in North America is made up of hybrid offerings, such as its presence in the IndyCar series and IMSA under the Acura brand. This weekend’s Indy 500 is being touted as the first hybrid 500 in history, something that Honda is very invested in, specifically from a marketing perspective.

Rival Toyota’s stance on EVs and hybrids has been drastically different from Honda’s, though both companies agree that having a balanced portfolio of vehicles is vital to surviving current market conditions. Both Honda and Toyota will continue to invest in EVs, but it’s clear that it’ll be done at a different rate than expected.

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