Honda announced a 423.9 billion yen ($2.7 billion) loss Thursday in a first-ever negative result for the fabled Japanese automaker, reportedly driven by heavy costs for its electric-vehicle plans underscored by President Donald Trump’s pro-U.S. manufacturing policies.
AP reports the longstanding automaker – established in 1948 by Soichiro Honda – conceded the dire losses related to its EV operations are estimated to total 2.5 trillion yen ($16 billion), incurred mostly in the fiscal year just ended and the current fiscal year.
Analysts cited by the outlet detailed Honda Motor Co. plunged into an EV-dominant strategy when the market simply was not interested.
As a result, the Japanese carmaker has now abandoned many of its plans for EV models including those in the works in a joint venture with Sony Corp. as it seeks to find a way out of the financial hole it has dug for itself.
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Put simply, Honda bet heavily on electric vehicles and that parlay went wrong. Badly wrong.
“EV demand has declined considerably, due to the rollback of environmental regulations in the U.S. and other factors,” Honda said in a statement, seen by AP
The Trump administration has pulled back on incentive programs for EVs and withheld money to states wanting to add more EV charging stations.
Trump’s efforts to protect American jobs through tariffs on imported autos and auto parts, although lowered to 15 percent from the initial 25 percent, also worked to dent Honda’s profitability even as the rest of the world also finds EV’s not living up to expectations.
Chief Executive Toshihiro Mibe acknowledged the need to work on hybrids and regular gasoline-engine models not just electric vehicles.
Honda is not alone in finding EV’s are being widely ignored in major world markets.
As Breitbart News reported, Ford Motor Company announced a $5.1 billion loss in its electric vehicle and software business at the end of 2024.
At the same time Ford’s traditional gas-powered vehicles continue to perform well, generating sufficient revenue to keep the company profitable overall.
The Detroit automaker, which has poured billions of dollars into electrification along with most of its industry peers, said at the end of 2025 it will no longer make the F-150 Lightning electric pickup truck, instead opting for an extended range version of the vehicle.