Honda’s renewed focus on hybrid new cars will help to bring it even closer to customer needs in Europe, according to its senior executives.
The Japanese firm recently announced the cancellation of the Honda 0 series, its next generation of electric vehicles, to halt declining profitability after regulatory changes in its biggest market, North America, removed many of the conditions which favoured EVs.
Hans de Jaeger, president of Honda Motor Europe, told Automotive Management that the quest for sustainable profits is “the only way to go forward” and that means ensuring everything starts with what the customer wants and Honda being agile enough to deliver it.
On the policies setting challenging targets for EV sales mix in the UK and Europe, he added: “Regulators have at the moment a little bit misunderstood customer desire.”
He and Honda UK head of automobile Michael Doyle both reiterated that OEMs need longer-term stability from policy-makers.
“What we as an OEM need is clarity and consistency. And I have to say, those are two topics which are subject for improvement, if I’m being polite,” said de Jaeger.
Policy-makers need to use the consumer as their starting point, he said, and take a holistic view. The fact is that at the same time as EV uptake is quite slow, the average age of the car parc is increasing as people keep their cars for longer, so policy-makers need to recognise this and give consumers choice.
De Jaeger said it is vital for Honda to “bring a product to the market which is touching the sweet spot” and described the recent introductions of the Prelude coupé and sub-£20k Super-N electric city car as examples of that.
“That’s exactly what we want to do, to bring a product which is much more aligned with customer requirements.”
Doyle said bringing in the Super-N, which is an electric ‘Kei’ car originally designed for congested Japanese cities, is a “tactical move, for sure” – Honda UK needs to get the right mix of EVs to ICE car sales.
Yet just as importantly, Super N will bring in a different type of customer, a younger demographic, and it is a growing market segment – every one sold will be incremental volume for Honda UK.
He said that when franchisees were introduced to the Super N on a recent investor day they were excited about targeting a new customer. “I could see the smiles on their faces when they drove back in,” Doyle said.
“We think we’re priced absolutely right with the right proposition. We’ve shifted our marketing spend this year, compared to last, in terms of not just that model but across our brand.”
As well as exciting the franchise investors, Doyle’s team has engaged more with the teams in Honda dealerships to generate that excitement and ensure they share in the message that there are new customers to win.
Asked about what Honda UK is doing to give dealership staff more confidence when faced with an onslaught of Chinese new entrants, Doyle said he’s spent his first three months since returning to the UK from South Africa to become head of automobile just listening.
“That’s listening to our investors, listening to the people on the shop floor, watching how they interact with customers, and listening to the customer voice. That’s given me the time to think about, internally, how we operate, how easy we are to do business with.”
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Although he’s still formulating his strategy, he has identified some needs for improved product knowledge. Many Honda dealerships are at multi-franchise locations now and Doyle needs Honda sales teams to be best equipped to sell the brand and the benefits of the technologies on Honda cars.
He has also ensured that the Honda UK team went through the same experience as the dealers at the Super-N event.
“I think sometimes OEMs can lose sight of that customer contact. We talk about value as a price; it’s not always a price, it’s a service.
“We’ve a very. very loyal customer base, and our intention is to keep and grow that. The reality is that the OEM can’t do a lot, we don’t see many customers, but our salespeople do every single day.”
Automotive Management interviewed the Honda executives during Goodwood Festival of Speed, where it provided a dynamic showcase of its latest cars and motorcycles, with a strong focus on performance, electrification, and Honda’s enduring motorsport DNA.
The Honda Super-N tackled the Goodwood hillclimb, and visitors saw the world-first dynamic appearance of the Prelude HRC Concept (below), which was developed with performance parts engineered by Honda Racing Corporation and Honda Access Corporation, and shows the potential for further evolving the brand’s sports DNA.
