Per reporter: Dong Tianyi Per editor: Pei Jianru
Just one week after Honda announced its electrification strategy in China, its first pure electric model in China, the e:NS1 and the new pure electric concept car e:N Coupe Concept, were officially unveiled at the Dongfeng Honda booth during the Wuhan Auto Show.
Image source: Courtesy of the enterprise
As Honda's e:N series "first bomb" mass production models, the e:NS1 and e:NP1 pure electric vehicles will be put into production at Dongfeng Honda and Guangqi Honda respectively, and are scheduled to go on sale in the spring of 2022.
"The e:NS1 not only represents the development direction of Honda's electrification, but also undertakes the shaping mission of Honda's new pure electric vehicle brand e:N, but also the accelerator and booster of Dongfeng Honda's full electrification." Dongfeng Honda said that in the next 5 years, it will continuously launch a number of new pure electric vehicle brand e:N models.
Guangqi Honda, which has not yet ushered in e:NP1, has recently launched the honda brand's first plug-in hybrid model, Haoying Rui Hybrid e+, which is based on Honda's third-generation i-MMD PHEV technology. At present, Guangqi Honda has formed an electric product matrix with full coverage in the field of "hybrid + plug-in hybrid + pure electric".
In fact, there are already a number of pure electric models in the product lineup of Dongfeng Honda and Guangqi Honda, but none of them hang the Honda brand logo. Because of this, the above two joint ventures attach great importance to the introduction of Honda's e:N series.
According to Katsushi Inoue, Executive Executive Director and China President of Honda Giken Industries Co., Ltd., General Manager of Honda Giken Industries (China) Investment Co., Ltd., and General Manager of Honda Giken Technology (China) Co., Ltd., in order to cooperate with the introduction of e:N series products, Dongfeng Honda and Guangqi Honda will build new plants for pure electric vehicles, which are scheduled to be put into operation from 2024. In the future, Honda's pure electric vehicles produced in China will also be supplied to overseas markets.
Industry analysts believe that Honda's determination and confidence in the transformation to electrification may stem from the strong performance of China's pure electric vehicle market. According to the data of the National Passenger Vehicle Market Information Association (hereinafter referred to as the Association), in September, the retail sales of pure electric passenger cars in China were about 276,800 units, an increase of 211.9% year-on-year; from January to September this year, the retail sales volume of pure electric vehicles in China was about 1.4947 million units, an increase of 209.4% year-on-year.
However, it should be noted that the current market performance of mainstream joint venture brand new energy vehicles still has a big gap with independent brands and luxury models. According to the analysis of the national passenger car market in September 2021 released by the Association of Passenger Vehicles, in September, the penetration rate of new energy vehicles in China's own brands was 36.1%; the penetration rate of new energy vehicles in luxury cars was 29.2%, while the penetration rate of new energy vehicles in mainstream joint venture brands was only 3.5%. Whether the upcoming Dongfeng Honda e:NS1 and Guangqi Honda e:NP1 pure electric vehicles can open up a situation for Honda in the Chinese electric vehicle market, the industry is also quite concerned about this.
"China is the world's largest market for electric vehicles. How big the market is, how fierce the competition is. Katsushi Inoue believes that in such an environment, it is very important for Honda to be able to establish the direction of electrification in the Chinese market. If Honda can gain a foothold in China's electric vehicle market, it can gain a foothold in the global electric vehicle market.
Daily economic news