Honda believes that it will only be able to sell cars with some form of electrification in China by 2025, as the country continues to implement, and increase, tough emission standards. "China will adopt some of the world’s most stringent regulations in terms of fuel economy,” says Honda automotive research and development chief, Keiji Ohtsu. “In 2025, we don’t expect to be able to sell conventional internal-combustion engines, meaning we will be selling mostly hybrids including plug-in types.” The company is also working on a new electric car for China, which could debut later this year. This coincides with Honda's ramping up production of hybrids, as the company expects hybrids will account for 20% of global sales by 2020, and according to Ohtsu, as much as 80% of sales in Japan in the same time frame.
Honda believes that it will only be able to sell cars with some form of electrification in China by 2025, as the country continues to implement, and increase, tough emission standards. "China will adopt some of the world’s most stringent regulations in terms of fuel economy,” says Honda automotive research and development chief, Keiji Ohtsu. “In 2025, we don’t expect to be able to sell conventional internal-combustion engines, meaning we will be selling mostly hybrids including plug-in types.” He believes that emissions standards in China a decade from now will be so strict that Honda will have an all-hybrid line-up there, likely augmented by some plug-in electric cars and hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles. This coincides with Honda's ramping up production of hybrids, as the company expects hybrids will account for 20% of global sales by 2020, and according to Ohtsu, as much as 80% of sales in Japan in the same time frame.