Honda previews new sedan as it announces annual loss, abandons 2040 EV goal

At a briefing to announce its bad financial news, Honda whipped the covers off two concept cars that are due to go into production by 2028.

The Honda Hybrid Sedan Prototype has a fastback shape, but is actually a sedan. At first glance it looks like it could be the next-generation Accord, but a report at the beginning of the month indicated the current car’s lifespan will be extended with the new model now due in early 2030.

Additionally, the Civic needs to be replaced sooner as the current generation was launched in 2021, whereas the eleventh-generation Accord dates to 2023.

The Hybrid Sedan Prototype certainly doesn’t look petite, but an earlier engineering prototype hinted the new Civic will be longer and wider than today’s car.

It’s easier to guess what the Acura Hybrid SUV Prototype previews, though, as it very much looks like a replacement for the Acura RDX, the current generation of which debuted back in 2019. Historically the RDX and the Civic have shared the same platform, and have been around the same size.

Both prototypes, and their production counterparts, are based on a new platform that’s been designed to flex, and can accommodate the company’s next-generation hybrid petrol-electric technology.

Honda is pivoting to hybrid propulsion after cancelling its 0 Series Saloon and SUV, and Acura RSX, in March just months before they were due to go into production. Not long later it also nixed the Afeela models its was planning to build with Sony.

The company now plans to launch 15 new hybrid models, mostly in North America, by 2030, with some of the larger vehicles powered by a new V6 hybrid setup. Honda will repurpose its joint venture factory with LG Energy Solution to build battery packs for these new hybrid cars.

Although its EV ambitions have been severely scaled back, the automaker still plans to launch electric cars “mainly in the mini-vehicle (kei car) category” in Japan, as well as plug-in hybrids and EVs “built on platforms provided by local partners” for China.

While Honda is keen to talk up its plans for affordable sub-4m models in India, interestingly it made no mention today of the affordable 0 Series Alpha SUV that’s due to go into production in India in 2027.

Honda says it remains committed to achieving carbon neutrality by 2050, but its previous target of halting production of cars with internal combustion engines by 2040 has been abandoned. Instead, it says it will reach its 2050 goal via a “multi-faceted approach” with “EVs, hybrid vehicles, carbon-neutral fuels and carbon-offset technologies.“

On the financial front, Honda posted a  ¥414.3 billion loss (A$3.6bn) operating loss for the year ending March 2026, a huge turnaround from the year before when it made a profit of ¥1.2 trillion (A$10.6bn).

A majority of the loss comes from costs associated with cancelling its North American EV plans.

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