Honda’s EV Sales Plunged–And GM Could Be The Surprise Winner

Honda’s deal with General Motors is backfiring, but the American auto giant still stands to gain from it.

2024 Honda Prologue Elite

Iulian Dnistran

By: Iulian Dnistran

Feb 11, at 3:50am ET

Add InsideEVs as a preferred source in Google

Comment

Honda’s global electric car business tanked in the previous financial quarter ending in December.
The Japanese automaker’s EV sales fell to half in the October-December quarter, amounting to just 15,000 units globally.
Honda’s EV business is expected to lose about $4.48 billion in the full fiscal year, and General Motors might be the surprise winner here.

Honda’s electric car business took a big hit in the previous financial quarter, and General Motors could stand to benefit from the Japanese automaker’s troubles.

The Honda Prologue and ill-fated Acura ZDX electric crossovers were jointly developed with General Motors to ride on the same electric platform as the Chevrolet Blazer EV, and they were both assembled at GM’s factories.

Acura pulled the plug on the ZDX EV just before the $7,500 federal tax credit was canceled.

Photo by: InsideEVs

But sales of the Prologue and ZDX fell through the roof from October through December, so Honda reduced the number of orders to GM, and now it will have to compensate the American automaker for the reduced output, as reported by Automotive News.

The Acura ZDX was assembled at GM’s Spring Hill plant in Tennessee, but it survived just one model year before being canceled due to poor sales. In total, the ZDX amassed just 19,411 sales. Meanwhile, the Honda Prologue, which is assembled at GM’s Ramos Arizpe plant in Mexico, is hanging on by a thread, despite its promising start.

Last year, Honda sold 39,194 Prologue EVs in the U.S., an increase of 18.7% compared to 2024, but the car’s downfall was evident in the previous quarter, when sales tumbled 86% to 2,641 units.

Stay informed with our newsletter every weekday

back

Subscribe For more info, read our Privacy Policy & Terms of Use.

As a result, Honda is now calling for a “fundamental review” of its car strategy. The company ticked off its fourth consecutive quarter of operating losses, with its consolidated profits dropping a whopping 61% in the October-December fiscal third quarter. In the first nine months of the previous financial year ending in March 2026, Honda’s write-offs and expenses for its EV business grew to $1.71 billion, and the company expects the EV-related losses to balloon to $4.48 billion by the end of the fiscal year.

On top of that, the impact of the U.S. import duties will add an extra $1.98 billion in losses by the end of March, with the automaker’s operating profit expected to decrease by 55%.

To try to mitigate the losses, Honda said it will try to boost fleet sales of the Prologue crossover, but additional spending on manufacturer incentives is also expected. Last month, Honda pumped over $17,000 into every Prologue sold in the U.S., but that wasn’t enough to boost sales, and only 664 units found new owners.

What do you think?

View

Comments

After canceling the Acura ZDX and seeing the Honda Prologue tank, the Japanese automaker is developing a new, bespoke EV lineup based on an in-house-developed architecture called the 0 Series. The first car based on the new platform will be the Acura RSX crossover, which will go on sale by the end of this year. Two Honda models, the 0 Series SUV and 0 Series Saloon, will follow.

Honda dreamt of a future full of EVs, but regulatory and trade changes bit back. In 2024, the company said it wanted to sell as many as two million EVs globally in 2030. Last year, that estimate fell to around 700,000 to 750,000.