Honda Has BIG Plans — Is THIS The Move YOU Would Have Made As Its CEO Or Would You Have Taken A Page From Ford's Playbook?

If you haven't noticed, there's a massive shift happening in the automotive industry. Between shifting product mixes — sedans to sport-utility vehicles — and the push for electrification, manufacturers are having to make adjustments.

And Honda just made its plans loud and clear.

Honda's CEO, Takahiro Hachigo, announced sweeping changes across the well-known Japanese marque. Most critical will be the streamlining of its product portfolio and the introduction of a global architecture/platform.

This will enable the company to shift its efforts to Research & Development-led initiatives.

What's interesting to note, however, is that its electrification efforts will not translate into pure-play electric vehicles (EVs). Honda is going to lean on hybrid variants instead and is saying two-thirds of its portfolio will be electrified by 2030.

Having said that, what do YOU make of these plans, Spies? Would YOU have taken a different approach, a la Ford?

If you’re a fan of Honda, prepare for a series of big changes in the couple of years to come. CEO Takahiro Hachigo today gave plenty of details about the company’s future.

For starters, Honda plans to massively streamline its global lineup to one-third of what the company has now. Some similar regional models will be eliminated and consolidated into even more competent models shared across multiple regions, Hachigo said...

 

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runninglogan1 - 5/10/2019 5:27:32 AM

-4 Boost

It's disheartening how far Honda has fallen since their pinnacle in the late 80's to mid 90's.

Same can be said of Toyota, to a slightly lesser degree.

What happened?

TomM - 5/10/2019 6:26:56 AM

+6 Boost

Cars are not selling in the same numbers that they once did. Honda makes some really good cars that are easy to recommend. THAT is just one problem. THe movement to Hybrid and Electric Vehicles will continue - while not being dominant for a while - the battery packs of the EV do not allow the use of current platforms - so we have to have platforms designed with EV's in mind - even if they stall out and do not sell well.

Now - when you add in the different Model choices - reducing the number of different options helps bring costs down - even if not for the consumer.

cidflekken - 5/10/2019 11:30:48 AM

+5 Boost

Honda's "fall"? WTF are you on about? Honda remains incredibly competitive in any market segment. And they don't need to rely on fleet sales to bolster their sales.

Regarding this shift, we'll have to see how it plays out. The streamlining of models and/or platforms makes sense, but I'm hoping that cars like the Type-R and Si aren't affected. I'd hate to see them shift to a bland lineup like Acura has had for over a decade, with no "specialty" cars save the NSX of recent years. They already made this type of switch with the Accord, didn't they? They no longer have a European version and an NA version and a JDM version, correct? I could be mistaken, but I thought that did happen.

MDarringer - 5/10/2019 8:17:36 AM

-7 Boost

Honda's #1 issue is STYLING. Their styling is UGLY. Their woes have NOTHING to do with engineering or platforms.

MDarringer - 5/10/2019 7:50:30 PM

0 Boost

No. It isn't. Honda is in decline.

Truthy - 5/10/2019 1:26:32 PM

+2 Boost

Toyota is falling?!? It is interesting to note two very successful Japanese are not lining up to do EVs, but rather hybrids.
This makes a lot of sense for global manufacturers and indicates EVs will be niche for the foreseeable future.

jtz7 - 5/11/2019 6:43:33 PM

+1 Boost

So I see we are going to pretend the Accord is orginal and ignore the fact the greenhouse ripped off the 2009 Hyundai Azera's but because this is an anti-korean car blog I'm going to get downvoted for telling the truth.

TomM - 5/11/2019 10:46:32 PM

+1 Boost

Over the years - Greenhouses are copied by lots of manufacturers. For Example - that "Floating" C or D Pillar design that is being modified by everyone today.

Actually - Honda's styling is not the main issue, Honda's reliability took a hit with their 5 speed automatic and later 6 speed Automatics failing early. Honda automatics are different from most others (Saturn had a similar design) because they do not use typical Planetary gearsets. Some of the Civic and Odyssey transmissions also suffered from insufficient cooling - causing them to burn out early as well.

jtz7 - 5/12/2019 8:31:12 AM

+1 Boost

That floating roof didn't get popular until after the 2011 Kia Optima went on market.

jtz7 - 5/11/2019 6:44:41 PM

+1 Boost

Yet when the Azera was revealed it got accused of copying Audi. But when the Accord gets revealed it's orginal.