Honda

Brands are eager to turn our cars into a subscription service. Honda has reminded us again

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Buying a car today can be a whole box of surprises. Sometimes for the better, and sometimes, as recently happened to a Honda Passport owner, for the worse. And just as has shared user on Reddit, the function to open your garage that previously came as standard, has become an option included in a subscription package offered by the firm. The story has some nuances that are worth mentioning, but the reality is that this example has become another reflection of something that has been happening for years in the automobile industry: manufacturers are determined to turn your vehicles into recurring revenue platformsand software is your main tool to achieve this. From opening the garage with a little button in the car, to doing it from an app The Honda Passport in question has removed the rearview mirror with integrated Homelink, the system that allows the car to be synchronized with the garage receiver via radio. In your place now offers the function as standard through the MyQ applicationintegrated into HondaLink. For it to work, the user needs an internet connection in the car, Apple CarPlay or Android Autoand you must also install a MyQ receiver connected to the home Wi-Fi at home. The result is a system that provides more technical complexity to do something that was previously solved with a small radio control attached to the visor. Sling confirmed According to CarBuzz, customers receive a free 30-day trial period, after which they must contract a three- or five-year subscription. If they don’t, the feature is still accessible through the standalone MyQ app, and Honda also sells a rearview mirror with Homelink as an additional accessory for around $170. That is to say: What used to come as standard now has to be paid separately. The main advantage of the new system (being able to check if you have left the garage open from anywhere with a connection) makes some practical sense. But the price of the subscription, between $129 and $179 for three or five years, plus the possible connectivity costs of the vehicle itself, turns something so simple into a payment chain that is difficult to justify. BMW and heated seats: the case that started it all To understand where we are today with the issue of subscription services in vehicles, it is worth remembering the most talked about episode in recent years. In 2022, BMW began to offer in some markets (South Korea, the United Kingdom, Germany, among others) the possibility of activate seat heating through a monthly subscription about 18 dollars a month. The problem here is that the hardware is already installed in the car from the factory, and it is the owners who had to pay a monthly subscription to unlock this feature. Both the press and the users attacked them so much that they had to back away. In September 2023, BMW Chief Sales and Marketing Officer Pieter Nota will confirmed to Autocar the end of that practice: “What we no longer do, and it is a well-known example, is to offer seat heating in this way. Either it comes from the factory or it doesn’t.” But BMW did not abandon the subscription model, but rather reoriented it. The brand confirmed that it would continue to expand the services and functions it offers through subscriptions, but that it will stop charging for hardware functions already installed in the vehicle. After the move, the firm continued with its plans to add subscription services, but this time only in its software, such as driving or parking assistance systems. Through your ConnectedDrive platformoffers functions such as adaptive suspension, high beam assistant, adaptive cruise control or even welcome animations with the lights, through subscription. Mercedes: up to 80 horses per subscription BMW’s example ended up spreading to many other firms. Mercedes-Benz launched its “Acceleration Increase On-Demand” function in 2023 for the electric EQE and EQS models: for $60 per month or $600 per year in the case of the EQE, or $90 per month and $900 per year in the EQS, owners could unlock between 60 and 80 additional horsepower and cut the acceleration time from 0 to 100 km/h by up to one second. They also added a single payment option for life, which is around 2,000 or 3,000 euros, depending on the model. Mercedes’ logic with which it tried to distance itself from BMW’s case was that standard hardwired functions, such as seat heating, would not be offered as “digital extras”, leaving subscriptions for software upgrades. However, the principle is the same– The car has the necessary hardware, but the feature is blocked until the user pays. Mercedes-Benz aimed reach 2,000 million euros of revenue from software subscriptions in 2025, with plans to reach between 7,000 and 9,000 million euros before 2030. This growth would be driven above all by its own operating system (MB.OS) and its autonomous driving system. If we think about it coldly, electric cars usually have lower maintenance costs than combustion cars, which reduces the income of dealers and the brands themselves. Software subscriptions are presented as a way to compensate for that loss. Tesla, GM and Ford: the model that already works Tesla has been the benchmark for this model for years, and in its case the discussion has important nuances. Your system Full Self-Driving Supervised (supervised autonomous driving) could be purchased for about $8,000 as a one-time payment or as a monthly subscription. And we tell it in the past tense because earlier this year, Elon Musk confirmed that Tesla would offer this mode only as a subscription service and not as a one-time payment. The good news is that those who had paid to get the lifetime feature will continue to have this feature. The subscription option costs about $99 per month. Perhaps the main difference here with BMW or Mercedes is that Tesla updates its software continuously with new capacities, which gives greater meaning to the recurring fee model. In the case of General Motors, … Read more

After visiting a Chinese factory, the CEO of Honda loudly admitted the noise of the industry

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We are witnessing a great change in the automobile industry, led above all by the great presence of China in more and more global markets and a transition to electric which seems to still be difficult for him. The traditional automobile industry is going through a delicate point, and the president of Honda saw it clearly when visiting a supplier factory in Shanghai. The surprise. At the end of February, Toshihiro Mibe, president of Honda, visited the facilities of a large Chinese manufacturer of components in Shanghai. What he found was a completely automated plant, without workers on the production line, and capable of supplying parts to both Tesla and local builders, minimizing labor costs and operating constantly. “We have no chance against this,” counted Mibe when leaving, according to statements reported by the Nikkei Asia media. It is certainly not the type of statement that one would expect from someone who runs one of the most historic brands in world motorsport. Why does it matter? Honda is not an isolated case. It is the latest symptom of an industry that has been looking at China with concern for years. Chinese manufacturers have managed to compress the development time of a new model to between 18 and 24 monthsabout half of what the Japanese or Europeans need. And it’s not just speed: it’s cost, automation and software. It is a change that is costing the traditional automobile industry, and that is not easy to replicate either. Numbers. In 2020, Honda sold 1.62 million vehicles in China. In 2025, that figure fell to 640,000 units, a decrease of 24% in the last year alone and the fifth consecutive year of decline, according to data published by the media. Its factories in the country operate at 50-60% capacity, well below the 70-80% necessary to be profitable. By 2026, the planned production is less than 600,000 units. “It is an extremely disappointing plan,” acknowledged an executive from a Chinese supplier company to Nikkei Asia. “But it doesn’t surprise me either,” he continued. Honda is not alone in this. Jim Farley, CEO of Ford, warned in an interview with CBS Sunday Morning last October that China has enough production capacity to “supply the entire North American market and put us all out of business.” “Unless things change, we will not survive,” counted for his part, also the then president of Toyota, Koji Sato. And coming from Toyota, which is basically the largest automaker in the world, that says a lot. Vgo back to the past to go towards the future. Honda’s reaction goes through resurrect your R&D division as an autonomous entity, something that has already existed since 1960 and that in 2020 was dismantled in favor of centralized management. It was that independent structure that, in 1972, developed the low-emission CVCC engine (the first to meet US regulations) and turned the original Civic into a global success. Now, thousands of engineers return to a subsidiary with greater operational freedom. “Five or six years ago it was good for the headquarters to take the reins,” recognized a Honda executive to Nikkei Asia. “But now the world has changed drastically,” he continued. Doubts. The movement does not convince everyone. Takaki Nakanishi, chief analyst at the Nakanishi Research Institute, said to the media that “it is doubtful what will change just by restoring the organization.” Honda’s own management team admits that recovering the structure does not guarantee winning China. “But that doesn’t mean we’re going to raise the white flag,” added a company executive, according to Nikkei Asia. In parallel, Honda cancels two of its electric planned for the US, the 0 SUV and the 0 Sedan, and assumes losses of up to 15.8 billion dollars. Also have been left in the air the two vehicles under the Afeela brand, the joint project with Sony. The alternative bet: India. While Toyota and Nissan choose to ally with Chinese partners to learn from their speed and launch affordable electric cars, Honda prefers another path. The brand is betting on India as a manufacturing base for its next generation of electric cars. The Model 0 Alpha, its global strategic EV planned for 2027, will be produced there. In mid-March, the Indian subsidiary shared images of the Alpha in rolling tests, describing the moment as “a new milestone in Honda’s electrification journey.” Imbalance. The automobile sector is going through one of its most profound transformations. China has stopped being just a market to become the main global competitor, with brands like BYD already reaching 1.8% share in Europe in the first two months of 2026, according to data from the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA). Honda, with just 0.5% in the same period, illustrates this imbalance well. Cover image | Sling In Xataka | Sensors, luminous tires and fish scales: the crazy (and stinky) story of the first “autonomous” car

Sony and Honda have canceled Afeela, their first electric car. One more example of China’s triumph where others fail

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Honda has encountered a wall called the electric car. One that has carried out the development of three of its own electric cars, another that was underway with Sony and that will have an impact on its accounts of about 22.5 billion dollars. The situation, it seems, is not the best. Honda’s jump to the electric car It seemed like an immutable reality just seven years ago. Seven years may seem like a long time but in automotive industry terms it is just the usual jump between two generations of cars. Perhaps that is why the plans, in addition to being immovable, seemed risky. In October 2019, the company announced that From 2022 it would only sell electric cars in Europe. Our continent seemed to be moving towards the electric car under pressure from regulations. Tesla was booming and the companies thought that this was the best path for our market. Today, Honda’s catalog for our country does not have a single electric car. In these years, the Honda e has obtained a very discreet result, victim of a very high price. He e:Ny1, a sort of electric HR-V, is also no longer available after selling an almost negligible number of cars in our country. Along the way, they announced the development of three new electric cars for the US market, all with a groundbreaking and futuristic aesthetic. Also a car that would arrive together with a collaboration with Sony. All of this has been cancelled. The Chinese surprise Much has changed in recent years so that Honda has gone from targeting only the electric market in Europe, developing three new cars with this technology for the United States and another with Sony, to canceling everything. And the company confirmed a few days ago that he reversed his electrical project. First with the cancellation of cars designed only for the American public. The move almost seems logical. The country still does not clearly embrace the electric car and Donald Trump is giving wings to keep every combustion car alive and without any effort. With a country of enormous distances and a charging network that remains insufficientthe electric car continues to have significant pitfalls. This cancellation has had two clear consequences. The first is an impact on Honda’s accounts of more than 20,000 million dollars. How we have the case of Stellantisthis money is not a direct loss, it is the sum of the investments already made, the fines to be paid to suppliers for unfulfilled agreements and the money that is not received from the sales that had been estimated, among other items. The second impact is that Afeela 1 has also been cancelled. This car was born from a collaboration between Sony and Honda. At CES 2023 It was already announced that it would arrive in 2026. Last year, at the same fair, the car was priced for the US market: $89,900 for the “cheap” version and more than $100,000 for the “face.” This year, at CES, we had no news. Less than three months later we know that the project has been canceled because, among other things, it rode the same platform as Honda’s other three electric cars. Once this was cancelled, producing a single car with a single platform was economically unviable. Sony’s car was sold as a leap forward for Hondaa preview of where the market was going to go. The intention was that Honda would provide the hardware and its knowledge making cars, Sony would provide the software and its experience getting the most out of elements such as cameras or sensors. Qualcomm and Epic Games were also supporting the project, the latter company creating an on-demand mobility service for the vehicle. The evolution of the automobile industry has attracted various technology companies. First it was Dyson the company that surprised us by announcing its own electric car. We know that Apple has tried to bring its own car forward and along the way he has left 10,000 million dollars. Microsoft was an investor in Cruise before its closure. Google is making efforts with autonomous cars. This company also wants Android Automotive be an essential part of the future of the electric car. Of all these companies that have been involved in the development of electric cars, all of them have failed. Only Google with Android Automotive seems to be building a long-term ecosystem, which Apple doesn’t seem to be getting it with CarPlay either. We are not talking about companies that supply hardware to automotive companies like Qualcomm or Nvidia, we are talking about companies that also they get involved in the development of a car through their software services or their knowledge to take advantage of that hardware. And, here, China is leading the market. What Sony and Honda intended was to demonstrate that two leading Japanese companies still had enough muscle and knowledge to produce a ground-breaking and competitive electric car. At that time, Xiaomi has built it itself. And Huawei is giving a lesson in China on how to take advantage of these collaborations. Right now, this last company collaborates with Toyota on the latest electric vehicles they have launched for the Chinese market. Its cars have their own ecosystem developed by Huawei that relies on, among other things, the electric motors that Huawei also develops. That is, the Chinese company is in charge of providing its parts and its software knowledge for the ultimate control of them. Huawei and Xiaomi are taking over the operating systems of Chinese electric cars with HarmonyOS and HyperOS. Both companies have extensive experience designing interfaces and digital experiences for the user, an essential service in China to sell electric cars and where Europe, Japan and the United States are still in their infancy, if we compare ourselves to what we see there. Specifically, Huawei has spread its tentacles in the industry until getting its hands on Toyota developments and having cars on the street that will rival Porsche, like the Aistaland GT7sedans that … Read more

tie it to a Honda CBR1000RR and pray

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Since the wheel was invented, humans have wondered what was the maximum speed they could achieve if they incorporated it into another device. As a recurring question, throughout history we have seen steam car racing, jet bikes or bicycles at 272 km/h. Bicycles at 272 km/h… Wait. That? Yes, you read that right. Bicycles at 272 km/h. If the question is “why.” The answer is: you can stop reading. Because? Because no one in their right mind wonders why someone decided that it was a good idea to get on a bicycle and go at such a speed. Because the answer is as absurd as the fact itself. Because the answer is: because yes. Because you can. The real question is: how did they do it? Simple and very dangerous When it comes to reaching extremely high speeds with a bicycle, there are only two ways: rely on pure aerodynamics or strap a bicycle to another vehicle. And for the two options there are two Guinness Records. The first option We already told it in its day. It’s a challenge which has been worked on since the beginning of the last century. In this case, the cyclist can pedal and takes advantage of the fact that another vehicle cuts him off from the wind. First, tests were carried out in velodromes using motorcycles to mark the pace. Finally, even Porsche participated in an attempt. First in the 70s and then taking a bicycle over 200 km/h protected behind a Porsche Cayenne. The second case is that of Elias Schwärzler, a cyclist specialized in mountain descents who holds the Guinness Record for “towed bicycle” speed. In this case, the cyclist does not pedal, he just lets himself be carried by another vehicle that pulls him along a chain. Of course, in this case the bicycle does not undergo any type of modification either since the usual thing in the first case is to make changes to generate more development when pedaling, win “battle” between the wheels and therefore stability or lighten the whole. Click on the image to go to the original post In this case, Schwärzler did none of this. Here the only thing that was done was put this Austrian on a mountain bike, strap him to a Honda CBR1000RR and throw him to the end of a straight line on the circuit. Lausitz-Ring. The record, explained by Guinness Records, has been in force since 2022, when the test was carried out but the cyclist did not reach the expected speed. Schwärzler’s intention was reach up to 300 km/h to which this motorcycle originating in competition is limited. To do this, he had done his own tests because he didn’t quite trust that the tires would hold up to the pressure. However, the real problem was the wind. And it was blowing strongly in the face which prevented the motorcycle from being able to drag the bike at the desired 300 km/h before the end of the straight. Once the curve is close, the rider releases the rubber that hooks him to the mountain bike. From there, Schwärzler simply lets himself go. He explained Since the wind conditions were so bad, his intention was to acquire the best possible aerodynamics, but once launched he could no longer make any movement. In your Youtube channel You can see all the details of the challenge. In the end, he had to settle for a top speed of 272 km/h. Photo | Elias Schwärzler In Xataka | We thought we were very modern, reinventing the bicycle. Almost 100 years ago they already saw it all in Paris and Chicago

Honda is very clear what is your plan to be neutral in emissions

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The history of Honda’s birth It is very interesting: Soichiro Honda said that Toyota’s rejection to buy his piston led him to found the company that bears his name. 76 years after its foundation, along with almost all its Japanese sisters, the manufacturer has its vehicles between The most reliable in the world. In full transition from combustion engines, Jay Josephthe CEO of Honda Australia, has surprised with his words: “Battery electric cars are not the final objective. Better electric vehicles are a way to achieve carbon neutrality, although not necessarily the only one.” Honda’s plan. According to Joseph, the Japanese firm will not neglect electric cars, which are working to improve components such as “solid state batteries.” However, its objective is “carbon neutrality” in 2050. It admits that to achieve it, the electric are “the most obvious path in the short and medium term”, but they will not focus only on them: “we will develop other technologies that help us achieve it,” he said. The short term of Honda is hybrid. Robert Thorp, another Honda manager, believes that “while drums are gaining market share and generate a lot of media noise, in practice the choice of consumers remains hybrid.” And it gives as an example the growth in the SUVs: “the electric ones remain plans, and those of combustion are in decline, but all the growth is in the hybrids.” He does not believe that it is only because of the options available in the market, but for his belief “that for consumers, behavioral changes are difficult.” Regarding hybrid SUVs, in Spain there are several among the best sellingsuch as the Kia Sportage, the Nissan Qashqai or the Toyota Yaris Cross, next to plug -in hybrids such as the Ford Kuga or the Hyundai Tucson. Other technologies. Jay Joseph explained other areas where they see potential: Hydrogen fuel battery for saving load times. A vision that they also share with Toyota, Hyundai or BMW, but that faces an infrastructure problem, and that at the end of 2024 there were only 1,160 refueling stations worldwide, According to H2Sstations. Why it is important. At a time when the industry has to decide what it wants to be in the next two decades, Honda continues among the brands that More cars sell in the worldand Growing in double digit in markets as profitable as the American. 20% of the market are already electric carsand what they decide to do since their headquarters in Minato is very relevant due to the impact on the plans of the rest. In that sense, already They announced Although they did not retire from the electric market, they did cut their sales forecasts, which came to estimate 30% of the total in 2030. Cuts. As their Australian managers pointed out, which right now the market goes through the hybrid, Honda announced a 30% cut in its investment in electrification and software by 2025. In the background there is also the fact that governments around the world are making deadlines more flexible to comply with goodbye to combustion and emission regulations. So, Electric car skeptics are in luck. But Honda does not forget them, and facing 2040 still maintains a clear plan: Sell only electric and fuel cell. There is still a decade and a half to meet the goal, so they believe there is room for a gradual transition to the electric. Aligned with whom he sells the most (and other manufacturers). Toyota is the largest car manufacturer in the world, and remains convinced that the electric car It won’t be the preferred option. They believe that investing more money in this technology is to “waste it”, because demand does not compensate to increase investments. At the end of 2023, Akio Toyoda, president of Toyota Motor Company assured That “it doesn’t matter what the electric car improves, it will not happen 30%.” The great Japanese manufacturer is convinced, as Honda, that The future is hybridand has interests not to say goodbye to the market where it has been a pioneer and with which it follows reaping records. Renault sees it similarlyand Others like Volvo are reculating. In general, European manufacturers want most lax deadlines About the prohibition of selling combustion cars from 2035. The argument also reminds Honda’s: the electricity is not sold enough, and that is that the own Tesla sold less in 2024 than in 2023. Main image | Sling In Xataka | “Without infrastructure, it is very difficult”: Volvo believes that the big problem of the electric car is in southern Europe

Honda appeared in a Japanese circuit with a Pokémon motorcycle. Actually hid an advance that goes far beyond the game

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A video game creature turned into a real motorcycle would not have to get too much attention. But when that creature moves alone on an official track, something changes. That was what happened on August 3 during the ceremony prior to 8 hours from Suzukaone of the most important events of Japanese motorcycling. Honda took a motorcycle designed as the circuit as the Pokémon Koraidon And he made it travel the exit line without driver, at low speed and for about ten minutes, in a showrun scheduled between 11:00 and 11:10. The motorcycle that Honda presented in Suzuka is not just a model based on the character that appears in the ‘scarlet’ delivery of the video game. To make it work, the company combined technologies that it had developed Years ago with your Asimo Robot and with the system Honda Riding Assistaimed at maintaining balance without human intervention and simulate organic movements. According to Nikkei Asiathe unit integrates sensors, cameras and communications to recognize the environment and adjust its movement. An experiment with more ambition than it appears. Honda did not design this motorcycle just to get attention during an event. The company presents it as An opportunity to improve equilibrium technologies and autonomous navigation, with an eye on the future of transport on two wheels. A Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association survey He points out that 26% of motorcycle buyers in Japan are under 40 years old. For Honda, advancing in autonomy and security can help reconnect with a generation that has moved away from motorcycles. The idea of converting a Pokémon into a real vehicle is not new, but until now it had stayed in static models or promotional elements. Toyota, for example, showed an almost real -size recreation of MiraidonKoraidon’s futuristic equivalent in video games. Honda was a step further. What Honda is played with a motorcycle that moves alone. The future of the motorcycle is to convince a new generation that does not end up. A safer and more assisted driving is one of the keys that manufacturers handle. Although this version of Koraidon is a punctual experiment, the technologies involved could move to commercial models, as happened with equilibrium assistance systems developed in the past. For now there is no clear road map to a product, but a declared intention: continue accumulating experience to apply autonomy to the two wheels. Although the show lasted only ten minutes, its message goes much further. Images | Suzuka Circuit (1, 2, 3) | Sling In Xataka | Lamborghini will only manufacture 29 units of its last supercar but you are not in a hurry: they were already sold before presenting

Honda and Nissan have broken negotiations for their merger. Now another buyer appears on the horizon: the iPhone manufacturer

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Both companies believe that the most appropriate is to cease negotiations With these words, Honda and Nissan have confirmed that they have not reached an agreement and that, therefore, they put an end to their negotiations to add forces. What in March 2024 was exposed as a collaboration agreementat the end of the year was taking fusion form. Until, finally, there were clear that Honda would buy an important part of Nissan. Although there has been talk of Japanese government pressures to force the merger between both companies and try to get Nissan out of a financial hole that points to 9,000 layoffsthe truth is that Honda does not seem completely willing to merge from equal to equal. In recent days, the clearest option seemed to buy Honda of the totality or an important part of Nissan for turn it into a kind of subsidiarysomething that has ended up breaking negotiations. Nissan is now in a complicated situation but has preferred to maintain some independence in its future development. At the moment, it has to face the thousands of dismissals mentioned above but that will be nothing more than the confirmation that the company will fulfill its reduction in production by 20%. They are demanding but mandatory measures now that the profits of profits for the fiscal year that ends soon in Japan 70% have been adjusted compared to the original forecasts. At the moment, companies have announced that they are still open to collaborations for the development of potential future products although there is nothing written about this. Both companies face a future challenge with the electric car. Beyond Japan, the United States aims to be its strongest market but Nissan has fallen hard in the countrywhile putting Great efforts to jump into the electric car in the medium term. In Europe, where the road to the electric car has been paving from the political spheres, Nor has he received the expected support. To all of the above you have to add a context that has further complicated things. In Europe the idea begins to slide They will delay pressure measures to manufacturers to jump into the electric car. In the United States, Donald Trump is determined to end the promotion of this technology that Joe Biden had promoted with large tax incentives. Steel and aluminum tariffs They can be the icing to make the product more expensive and hinder its economic viability. In all this jaleo, a new player appears on the horizon. Foxconn and the car, the eternal desired Since the economic difficulties that Nissan is going through, Foxconn has been seen, he would see that he would be interested in buying an important part of the company and starting to manufacture its vehicles. The Taiwanese company is known for the production of iPhone But he has long since assured that his experience producing all kinds of technological devices may be sufficient to produce your own vehicles. Intentions are clear for years: produce platforms with all the integrated hardware necessary to make each manufacturer contributing its distinctive point with the software. To assert its position, Foxconn has been insisting that this way of working is perfect for launching electric cars at a low price. In December 2022Liu Young-Way, his CEO, said that the company’s strategy went to reach between 40 and 50% of world car production. The first milestone was marked by 2025 when they aspired to produce 5% world vehicles. Obviously, this will not happen but aware of the difficulties Nissan has, Foxconn has been interested in at least, with the shareholding that Renault keeps in the Japanese company as a consequence of the alliance, Woven under the mandate of Carlos Ghosnand its subsequent agreements that have been diluting participation of the French. With the negotiations between Honda and Nissan, foxconn again gained strength after Nissan will confirm last week which was open to new collaborations, including that of the Taiwanese company. Since then, the Rumors They have been taking strength although their managers have been elusive. In his last statements, Foxconn has made it clear that his true intention with Nissan would be framed within a collaboration and not of the purchase from your shareholders. These statements, of course, came before the publication of the cessation of negotiations between Honda and Nissan. Photo | Sling In Xataka | Nissan pointed to the electric car as a future plan. It will fire 9,000 employees and prove Toyota

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