Honda Series 0 killed off just months ahead of launch

Honda has scrapped its planned Series 0 saloon and SUV in the face of major financial losses.

The Japanese manufacturer blamed heavy losses and shifting US policies on electric cars for its decision to scrap the project just months ahead of the Series 0 saloon’s planned launch.

The two models were set to spearhead Honda’s EV strategy in the US. They were to be built in Ohio and go on sale in the States ahead of any other market.

Honda planned for them to be the pioneering models in a seven-car Series 0 line-up by 2030, based on new lightweight architecture.

However, it has now cancelled their development along with the US-only Acura RSX, saying: “Starting production and sales of these three models in current business environment where the demand for EVs is declining significantly would likely result in further losses over the long term.”

The firm partly blamed US President Donald Trump’s violent U-turn on EVs and protectionist tariffs for its troubles.

It noted that it embarked on the Series 0 project in an effort to meet “stringent environmental regulations” implemented under Trump’s predecessor Joe Biden. However, it said “the expansion of the EV market has slowed down due to several factors including the easing of fossil fuel regulations and revisions to EV incentives”.

It also said that its overall car business was suffering due to US tariff changes affecting its petrol and hybrid models, and a decline in competitiveness in Asia due to the allocation of more resources to EV development.

The previously innovative brand admitted that its EV strategy in China had failed. It blamed a customer focus on software and technology rather than hardware, noting that it could not compete with the ultra-fast product cycle of software-defined vehicles from new Chinese EV brands.

As a result of the cancelled Series 0 projects and other “challenging earnings situations” Honda expects to record special losses of up to 570 billion yen (£2.7bn) this financial year.

The firm said that moving forward it would focus its energies on hybrid models in its biggest markets – Japan and the US – as well as launching new models in the growing India market.

Honda hasn’t given any indication what its troubles mean for its European business, where it currently only sells one EV – the e:NY1.