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 powerful 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, however it’s off to a helluva begin. The corporate posted file gross sales this August, buoyed by robust SUV and truck gross sales, loads of hybrids and the all-new Honda Prologue EV.

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

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

But it surely’s the electrical Prologue that is the true information. Honda was gradual to launch a long-range EV, and when it did it plucked a GM-sourced Ultium mannequin off the shelf. The Honda Prologue is basically a rebadged Chevy Blazer EV. That is advantageous, 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 facility of branding. Honda has been constructing hybrid autos for 20 years, making shoppers 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 might be attributable to model loyalty or belief. It might be as a result of the Prologue did not have the Blazer’s launch troubles. It might be as a result of the Prologue got here out a couple of months later, and Honda remains to be satisfying the preliminary wave of demand, or due to good lease offers final month. Or it might be that, whereas nearly every little thing in regards to the Blazer and Prologue is an identical, the Honda contains 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 preserve the Prologue promoting via the subsequent 12 months. By that time, it must also have introduced its first home-built long-range EV, made within the U.S. It could have been gradual out of the gate, however do not depend Honda out of the EV race simply but.