Honda to Close China Plant(s)
Honda plans to shut at least one joint‑venture car plant in China this year and may close another next year as it scales back petrol‑car production in the market. The report frames the move as part of Honda’s wider retrenchment strategy in China’s changing auto market. (reuters.com)
Honda is cutting car-making capacity in China as it closes older gasoline-vehicle plants and shifts investment toward electric models. (reuters.com) Japanese magazine Toyo Keizai reported that one Honda joint-venture plant will shut in 2026 and another could close in 2027. Reuters said the plants are tied to Honda’s partnerships with Guangzhou Automobile Group and Dongfeng Motor Group. (reuters.com) The reported cuts would reduce Honda’s annual production capacity in China to about 720,000 vehicles. Honda had said in 2022 that its China capacity would rise to 1.73 million vehicles a year once two new electric-vehicle plants opened. (reuters.com) (global.honda) Those new plants are already operating. Dongfeng Honda opened a dedicated new-energy vehicle plant in Wuhan in October 2024, and GAC Honda began operating its new-energy vehicle plant in Guangzhou in December 2024. (global.honda 1) (global.honda 2) Honda’s China strategy has changed because the market changed first. China sold 16.49 million new-energy vehicles in 2025, up 28.2% from a year earlier, and those vehicles accounted for 48.6% of all new vehicle sales, according to industry data carried by the Chinese government. (english.www.gov.cn) Honda has told investors it wants 100% of its vehicle sales in China to be electric by 2035. The company also said in 2024 and 2025 that it planned 10 Honda-brand electric models for China by 2027, including the Ye series built specifically for that market. (global.honda 1) (global.honda 2) The pressure has shown up in sales. Honda’s deliveries in China fell 30.9% in 2024 to 852,269 vehicles, the company said in January 2025, its first drop below 1 million there in nine years. (reuters.com) Reuters reported in November 2025 that Honda saw Chinese electric-vehicle makers as its deeper long-term problem, beyond tariffs and chip shortages. Executive Vice President Noriya Kaihara said then that Honda had “lost our competitive edge in terms of pricing” in some Asian markets. (reuters.com) Honda has not publicly laid out the full shutdown timetable on its global newsroom pages, and Reuters said the company declined to comment on the Toyo Keizai report. The broad direction is clearer than the final map: less room for gasoline capacity, more room for electric production in China. (reuters.com)
