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fliptop [soylentnews.org] writes:

As a metric of just how much damage the push to “electrify” everything on wheels has caused, it’s hard to surpass Honda CEO Toshihiro Mibe’s announcement [businesschief.com] the other day that Honda – Honda! – suffered its first-ever money-losing year last year [ericpetersautos.com]:

“The outlook is very challenging. However, we would like to explain the circumstances leading to this management decision and the future direction for rebuilding the mid-to long-term strategy for our automobile business,” he said.

[...] Honda – like a number of other vehicle manufacturers that drank the EV Kool Aid – has cancelled several pending EVs that had been scheduled to make their debut this year, including the entire “0” series. It turns out zero will be made, which is better than zero dollars being earned (and many dollars probably lost).

“We made this decision with a heavy heart, believing that introducing these three models to market without an outlook for business viability may lead to an early discontinuation of production, which could cause a concern and inconvenience to our customers as a result of potential damage to the value of the Honda brand.”

The Prologue – Honda’s first EV – is also the first Honda to be cancelled after just three years of availability. It ought never to have seen the light of day – and not just because it’s another over-priced ($40k to start) crossover that goes half as far as $25k gas-engined crossovers and tethers its owner to a charge cord – but also because it wasn’t even a Honda. It was a reskinned Chevy Blazer EV, with some trim/feature tweaks. This saved Honda some money, by not wasting it on R&D’ing its own EV – but it also arguably damaged Honda’s brand, something far more costly.

Previously:

• Honda Hits Brakes On EV Rollout Amid Rising Losses [soylentnews.org]
• Honda Shows Low Speed, Narrow BEV for City Delivery [soylentnews.org]
• Honda and LG are Investing $3.5 Billion in New Ohio Battery Factory [soylentnews.org]

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