Honda has announced today that its upcoming, all-new, all-electric Honda Prologue SUV will enter the market in early 2024 with an initial annual sales target of 70,000 units!
It will be the first volume battery-electric car from the Japanese manufacturer, which begins the next chapter in the brand's electrification.
At launch, the Honda Prologue willt be available only in the largest EV markets (California, ZEV states, including Texas and Florida), and then progress towards nationwide availability.
"Honda’s initial approach to selling the Prologue will be regional, focusing on California and the ZEV states, including the BEV-friendly sunbelt states of Texas and Florida. Honda anticipates these regions will represent the bulk of sales at the onset of launch due to higher customer acceptance and regulatory requirements. As EV infrastructure expands and customer interest grows nationwide, the company will rapidly expand sales and marketing efforts to other areas of the country."
Honda intends to switch to 100% zero-emission cars (BEVs of FCVs) by 2040 (see details here). The first step in North America will be the launch of two GM Ultium-based all-electric SUVs - one from Honda and one from Acura brand:
- Honda Prologue (all-new SUV) in early 2024
"highly competitive with the functionality expected by Honda customers" - Acura SUV in the 2024 calendar year
"Both will utilize the highly flexible global EV platform powered by Ultium batteries based on the company’s strategic partnership with General Motors."
A relatively high initial sales target is possible thanks to using General Motors' Ultium platform that by 2024 should already be in use in multiple GM models on the market and after the production ramp up.
We guess that the Honda Prologue might be produced by GM, at GM's Ramos Arizpe Manufacturing Complex in Mexico, while the Acura EV could be made at GM's Spring Hill Complex, Tennessee, alongside the Cadillac Lyriq.
In the second half of the 2020s, the company intends to launch its own solution - "a new e:Architecture, with development led by Honda". It will be a new platform for all-electric cars that will enable the company to expand its zero-emission vehicle sales to 500,000 annually by 2030.
The e:Architecture-based EVs will be produced at Honda plants in North America.
"Following the 2024 introduction of Honda Prologue, co-developed with GM and based on the Ultium platform, Honda will introduce a series of electrified vehicles in the second half of the decade based on the Honda developed e-Architecture and production of BEVs beginning at Honda plants in North America."
Dave Gardner, executive vice president of National Operations at American Honda Motor Co., Inc. said:
“Launching our first volume BEV in 2024 is the start of an exciting new direction for Honda. We are working with our dealers to plan the transition from sales of primarily gasoline-powered vehicles to selling 100-percent electric vehicles by 2040.”
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