Good news? It’s going to be a very interesting time for Honda fans as the car brand begins to shift its focus towards electric vehicles. Bad news? This transition isn’t going to happen without some casualties.
According to a new report by Nikkei Asia, the Japanese car manufacturer is beginning to make some serious moves to cut costs as it begins pursuing the goal of complete electrification by the year 2040.
The company’s Sayama manufacturing plant in Japan, for example, will be closing up shop soon. It remains operational at the moment, but will reportedly close in the next two to three years. The Sayama plant has been around since 1964, and a ‘line-off’ ceremony was held at the facility in late December 2021.
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Last year, Honda also announced that it would begin implementing a different approach to vehicle development and that it was putting a stop to its Formula 1 program.
The report adds that as part of Honda’s restructuring, domestic production has been reduced to around 800,000, with the company opting to focus on improving efficiency at its other facilities. Honda’s domestic production averaged about a million vehicles per year until 2021, and at its peak in the early 2000s, the number reached as high as 1.3 million units annually.
“Like you, I will miss it all,” Honda CEO Toshihiro Mibe said during the Sayama plant’s line-off ceremony. “We will continue making automobiles that meet the needs of consumers at home and abroad.”
What other sacrifices do you expect will be made in the name of automotive electrification?
