Honda records its first-ever annual loss on a costly EV strategy

TOKYO (AP) — Honda racked up a 423.9 billion yen ($2.7 billion) loss Thursday, the first-ever full year loss for the Japanese automaker, acknowledging heavy costs for its electric-vehicle plans, stemming from President Donald Trump’s pro-U.S. policies.The Japanese automaker said losses related to its EV operations are estimated to total 2.5 trillion yen ($16 billion), incurred mostly in the fiscal year just ended and the current fiscal year.Analysts say Honda Motor Co. might have been too ambitious too fast, when many markets weren’t ready. As a result, Honda abandoned many of its plans for EV models, including those in the works in a joint venture with Sony Corp. “EV demand has declined considerably, due to the rollback of environmental regulations in the U.S. and other factors,” Honda said in a statement.The Trump administration has pulled back on incentive programs for EVs and withheld money to states wanting to add more EV charging stations, even as gas prices have soared over the war in Iran.

Trump also blocked California’s stringent electric vehicle mandates last year, backpedaling on the shift to environmental models.

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