Well, this one stings. Honda has officially cancelled the 0 Series SUV, 0 Series Saloon, and the Acura RSX — three electric vehicles that were genuinely exciting and just months away from production.
If you followed CES 2025, you’ll remember how much buzz these cars generated. The Saloon especially looked like nothing else on the road — a proper wedge-shaped design that had people comparing it to a Countach. They were supposed to be Honda’s first ground-up EVs, built on their own platform at a brand new facility in Ohio.
Now they’re gone.
Why?
The short version: the business case fell apart. EV demand in the US has cooled significantly since federal tax credits were scrapped last year, and new tariffs on Japanese imports haven’t helped either. Honda also admitted something pretty candid — that pouring resources into EV development had come at the cost of keeping their petrol and hybrid cars competitive, particularly in Asia where Chinese manufacturers have been eating their lunch.
CEO Toshihiro Mibe described the situation as making EV profitability “very difficult.” It’s hard to argue with that when you’re looking at potential losses of up to 2.5 trillion yen — roughly A$22 billion. That would make it Honda’s first annual loss since going public in 1957.
Should Aussie Honda fans worry?
Not really. Honda Australia never confirmed the 0 Series for local sale, so nothing has been taken away from us specifically. The good news is that the Honda Super-One — a compact city EV that’s actually confirmed for Australia — is still on track for the second half of this year.
Honda Australia has also reaffirmed its commitment to expanding the hybrid lineup locally, so the CR-V, Civic, and HR-V hybrid range isn’t going anywhere.
The bigger picture
Honda isn’t alone here. Ford, Hyundai, Volkswagen, and others have all scaled back or delayed EV plans in the US recently. The policy environment has shifted, consumer appetite hasn’t grown as fast as expected, and the economics just aren’t there yet for some manufacturers.
Honda says it’ll pivot toward next-generation hybrids and only bring EVs to market when demand justifies it. A detailed long-term strategy is expected in May.
It’s a disappointing outcome for anyone who was excited about the 0 Series — those were genuinely interesting cars. But for the Australian market at least, the story is more about what’s coming (Super-One, more hybrids) than what we’ve lost.