Honda abandoning ICE in Europe?

  • Thread starter Thread starter MPower
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MPower said:
According to this article Honda is planning to stop selling ICEs in Europe in 2022 three years earlier than originally expected.

If plans change, maybe they will change their plans not to bring @insightman's beloved Honda e to the US. Maybe . . . .

https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2019/10/23/cars/honda-electric-cars-europe/index.html
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Honda just unveiled a new Fit (Jazz) in Tokyo--including one with the Insight's i-MMD powertrain, and one that's dressed up like a crossover. However, Car & Driver says that since Honda has moved Fit production from Mexico back to Japan so it can build more HR-Vs in Mexico, it probably means that not only will the i-MMD Fit not be coming to the US, but the Fit itself is likely to vanish from US showrooms.

Clearly, Honda's given up on small cars for the US and based on the sales figures for the Fit, it's hard to blame them. However, there was a time when Honda was willing to support a small-volume car (only 14,000 of my gen1 Insights were imported in 7 years). Now Honda's bean-counters are in control.

So I've given up on writing letters to American Honda begging them for the Honda e. Instead, I've placed a deposit on an all-electric MINI Cooper SE, due in March. Now I'm writing letters to BMW and putting GIFs online, pointing out that an all-electric car doesn't need a fake hood scoop (wife strains ocular muscles from rolling her eyes yet again).
 
My son was looking into a Fit size car. After looking at all brands, the Fit SE was the best in class due to having Honda Sensing. For the same price and maybe a couple of more features, the Elantra value edition would have been an option, but this was back in June and there when 2020s were starting to come out and 2019s were done. And he liked the hatchback more than the sedan.
 
insightman said:
Instead, I've placed a deposit on an all-electric MINI Cooper SE, due in March.
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What is the quoted price on the US version? The only info I've seen shows European prices.

Also, all available info I have show a US release tbd with the March date for Europe. I would be surprised to see any in the US in March (or in 2020 at all for that matter).
 
DucRider said:
What is the quoted price on the US version? The only info I've seen shows European prices.

Also, all available info I have show a US release tbd with the March date for Europe. I would be surprised to see any in the US in March (or in 2020 at all for that matter).
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No prices or dates yet for the US and no guarantee that all the electric MINIs won't go to California (where they'll generate corporate ZEV credits) instead of sending one to me in Michigan. Also, I've read MINI plans to make only 5,000/year even though they claim 45,000 Brits and Europeans have said they want one. However, the MINI Cooper SE is on the MINI USA website, so I can hope.

There's no Inside EVs forum for the electric MINI, but there's a thread on the Inside EVs BMW Forum that I abuse frequently.
 
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insightman said:
Clearly, Honda's given up on small cars for the US and based on the sales figures for the Fit, it's hard to blame them.
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I didn't realize that the Fit was not selling well. Around here it seems to be only slightly less popular than the Prius. But this is diddy car land.
 
Actually, I see the Fit sales were up last month, but down from last year. Still, the Fit's doing better than the Insight. I copied part of the full Honda sales table from the Temple of VTEC website. The page's title reads, "American Honda Marks Best Month of Sales in Company History, Setting Multiple All-Time Monthly Records," but the Fit isn't setting any records.


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