- Honda set a gross sales file in August, with 28% of its gross sales coming from hybrid or electrical fashions.
- Most of these vehicles are hybrids, however the all-electric Prologue is off to a powerful begin with 5,401 deliveries in August alone.
- It is already outselling vehicles just like the Hyundai Ioniq 5 and Kia EV6, however we’ll must see if Honda can maintain on to that momentum after the preliminary wave of patrons is glad.
Honda could also be late to the long-range EV market, but it surely’s off to a helluva begin. The corporate posted file gross sales this August, buoyed by robust SUV and truck gross sales, a whole lot of hybrids and the all-new Honda Prologue EV.
Honda offered 127,900 vehicles 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 choice for its mainstream vehicles. To be able to get a loaded Touring mannequin of the Accord or CR-V with the great audio system, you need to get a hybrid. Positioning them because the premium choice not solely helps soften the perceived price enhance of the hybrid powertrain, it additionally precisely suggests {that a} hybrid is commonly a extra luxurious, higher long-term choice. Skeptical patrons who desire a loaded CR-V will probably 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 offered are hybrid. Honda sells a whole lot 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 yr.
Nevertheless it’s the electrical Prologue that is the true 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 positive, 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 out there.
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 customers belief its electrical choices greater than they belief these from manufacturers which might be much less related to gasoline effectivity and frugalness. So Honda managed to maneuver 5,401 Prologues in August alone. For reference, Chevy offered 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 could possibly be attributable to model loyalty or belief. It could possibly be as a result of the Prologue did not have the Blazer’s launch troubles. It could possibly be as a result of the Prologue got here out a number of months later, and Honda continues to be satisfying the preliminary wave of demand, or due to good lease offers final month. Or it could possibly be that, whereas virtually all the pieces concerning the Blazer and Prologue is an identical, the Honda consists of Apple CarPlay, and the Chevy does not.
To seek out out whether or not this lead is enduring, we’ll must see whether or not Honda can hold the Prologue promoting via the subsequent yr. By that time, it must also 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 depend Honda out of the EV race simply but.
