Honda’s future focus is fixed on hybrids as EVs take a back seat
The 0 Series SUV will go on sale in the UK in the second half of next year, but hybrid models will continue being the volume sellers for Honda
“Watch this space in terms of hybrids,” says Honda’s senior European spokesperson, with the firm planning to continue its focus on multi-fuelled vehicles, despite the full-electric 0 Series SUV coming to the UK next year.
Speaking with Auto Express, product manager at Honda Europe, Andrew Winfield, said: “We've yet to break cover on what the sort of the next generation of our product line looks like, but hybrid is where the volume will sit.”
At the time of writing, Honda only sells one electric car in the UK – the e:Ny1 crossover – with the remainder of its line-up being either full hybrid or plug-in hybrid. The production version of the electric 0 Series SUV concept is set to enter production later this year and it will go on sale in the UK towards the middle or second half of 2027, according to Winfield.
We don’t know exactly what to expect from the 0 Series, but we do know the SUV’s range will be "competitive" with rivals such as the Tesla Model Y. A saloon model will follow afterwards, as will another smaller SUV that will compete with the likes of the Skoda Elroq. But the arrival of Honda’s next generation of EVs will not slow its hybrid onslaught.
This should perhaps come as no surprise given that the EU Commission recently scrapped its previous EV-only ambitions, permitting the sale of petrol and diesel cars (albeit in limited numbers) beyond 2035. While the UK looks to be standing firm on its 2030 deadline for the sale of petrol and diesel cars, and the 2035 ban on hybrid cars, sales of hybrid and plug-in hybrid cars rose by seven and 35 per cent respectively last year. Together, the two powertrain types now account for one in four new cars sold in Britain.
“[A] multiple energy solution is the way forward,” Winfield explained. “It's going to be a transition – it’s going to take time. We've committed in the past to 30 per cent [EV sales] globally by 2030. I think the reality will probably be a bit less than that.”
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