Honda Is Crushing It Proper Now

• Honda set a gross sales file in August, with 28% of its gross sales coming from hybrid or electrical fashions.
• Most of these automobiles are hybrids, however the all-electric Prologue is off to a robust begin with 5,401 deliveries in August alone.
• It is already outselling automobiles just like the Hyundai Ioniq 5 and Kia EV6, however we’ll need to see if Honda can maintain on to that momentum after the preliminary wave of consumers is glad.

Honda could also be late to the long-range EV market, nevertheless it’s off to a helluva begin. The corporate posted file gross sales this August, buoyed by robust SUV and truck gross sales, quite a lot of hybrids and the all-new Honda Prologue EV.

Honda bought 127,900 automobiles final month, 35,886 of which had been electrified. The overwhelming majority of these are hybrids. Honda’s new technique has been to supply hybrid powertrains because the improve choice for its mainstream automobiles. With a purpose to get a loaded Touring mannequin of the Accord or CR-V with the great audio system, you must get a hybrid. Positioning them because the premium choice not solely helps soften the perceived value improve of the hybrid powertrain, it additionally precisely suggests {that a} hybrid is usually a extra luxurious, higher long-term choice. Skeptical consumers who desire a loaded CR-V will doubtless be shocked by how good it feels with the two-motor hybrid system helping the four-cylinder gasoline engine. 

A pair years into this technique, 51% of CR-Vs bought are hybrid. Honda sells quite a lot of hybrid Accords, too, although it did not escape the quantity. And electrified gross sales are getting a lift from the newly launched Civic Hybrid. Anticipate its contributions to develop over the subsequent 12 months.

Nevertheless it’s the electrical Prologue that is the actual information. Honda was sluggish to launch a long-range EV, and when it did it plucked a GM-sourced Ultium mannequin off the shelf. The Honda Prologue is actually a rebadged Chevy Blazer EV. That is superb, as I just like the Blazer EV. Hell, I leased one. I simply did not count on a rebadged Chevy EV to make a lot of an impression available in the market. 

I broke rule primary within the auto market: By no means underestimate the ability of branding. Honda has been constructing hybrid automobiles for 20 years, making customers belief its electrical choices greater than they belief these from manufacturers which can be much less related to gas effectivity and frugalness. So Honda managed to maneuver 5,401 Prologues in August alone. For reference, Chevy bought 6,634 Blazer EVs in the entire second quarter. So even when it is promoting the very same EV as Chevy, Honda sells it sooner.  

That may very well be resulting from model loyalty or belief. It may very well be as a result of the Prologue did not have the Blazer’s launch troubles. It may very well be as a result of the Prologue got here out a couple of months later, and Honda continues to be satisfying the preliminary wave of demand, or due to good lease offers final month. Or it may very well be that, whereas nearly every thing concerning the Blazer and Prologue is similar, the Honda consists of Apple CarPlay, and the Chevy would not.

To search out out whether or not this lead is enduring, we’ll need to see whether or not Honda can maintain the Prologue promoting by the subsequent 12 months. By that time, it also needs to have introduced its first home-built long-range EV, made within the U.S. It could have been sluggish out of the gate, however do not rely Honda out of the EV race simply but.