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Honda Australia’s new CEO says the Japanese model goes to need to make “onerous selections” about its lineup shifting ahead, with slower-selling nameplates just like the Accord and Civic not assured a future on legacy alone.
Talking with CarExpert in Tokyo, Jay Joseph – chief govt officer for Honda’s native division – mentioned “we’re not committing to any nameplate over the long run”.
“Clients resolve what we get proper and what we get fallacious, and if the gross sales quantity doesn’t justify a mannequin staying in our lineup, then we have now to make these onerous selections,” Mr Joseph mentioned.
“I received’t let you know we’re dedicated to Civic [for example] in perpetuity, as a result of if that’s not what prospects wish to purchase for his or her causes, if we’re not providing the perfect worth proposition, then we received’t proceed to hold fashions that aren’t sustainable.
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“In an ideal world, we might design a lineup that… would have the ability to fulfill prospects all through their lifecycle and all their life phases.
“Australia is a crucial market [for Honda], and we’re not manufacturing something [in Australia], so it’s way more troublesome to try this. Homologating international lineups to have right-hand drive is pricey, so we’ve been ready for the previous couple of years the place we’ve needed to take fashions from different right-hand drive markets.
“[Because of that] we didn’t design the lineup precisely the best way we might have appreciated. As Honda appears to be like at our enterprise extra globally… we’re now our lineup in a extra holistic manner and designing a lineup that works for Australia a bit otherwise than we’ve been capable of previously.
“One of many causes I’m very assured in regards to the future is we’ll have the ability to convey some merchandise that fill some holes in our lineup.
Mr Joseph stopped in need of clarifying precisely which gaps within the lineup Honda Australia is trying to fill, however we would have some clues already.
Honda Australia has already confirmed that up to date variations of the CR-V and ZR-V SUVs will land round March-April 2026, boasting an up to date e:HEV hybrid drivetrain and Google built-in AI software program integration already seen within the Civic and Accord.
Additional, the Japanese model will make its e:HEV tech extra broadly accessible, promising an expanded vary of variants for each the CR-V and ZR-V together with the provision of all-wheel drive for the primary time in Australia.
The teeny Tremendous-One electrical automobile (EV) has additionally been confirmed for Australia in the course of the second half of 2026, plugging the compact hatch-sized hole in Honda’s native lineup that was left by the Jazz. Honda will as soon as once more supply a sports activities coupe when the reborn Prelude arrives in mid-2026, too.
Past that, we additionally know that Honda Australia is contemplating the brand new 0 Sequence EV vary – which features a small and medium SUV in addition to a mid-sized sedan – which can begin manufacturing in 2027-28.
Whereas Honda Australia is forecasting year-on-year gross sales progress in 2025, it’s the SUVs within the model’s lineup doing the heavy lifting. The CR-V, HR-V and ZR-V have accounted for 93.7 per cent of Honda’s gross sales in Australia year-to-date.
As of September 30, the Accord has returned simply 78 registrations and the Civic 642, each down on the January-September interval in 2024.
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