For the first time, a Honda vehicle with a hybrid engine will be launched in Vietnam this year, as part of the Japanese automaker’s goal of carbon neutrality.

During an event at the Honda factory in Vinh Phuc, on July 7^th, General Director of Honda Vietnam, Mr. Koji Sugita, confirmed the information that a hybrid car model will go on sale in Vietnam in 2023. However, Mr. Sugita did not specify what model it is, nor the specific time that this product will reach Vietnamese customers.

In Vietnam, Honda It’s not the only automaker that hasn’t had a hybrid model sold. However, compared to its own rival, Toyota, Honda is 16 years behind. In 2007, the Prius was the first Toyota hybrid to arrive in Vietnam and now, Toyota There have been a series of other products using hybrid engines such as: Corolla Altis, Corolla Cross, Camry.

In Southeast Asia, Honda has also been selling hybrids for more than 10 years ago. However, Vietnam is the exception.

The Japanese automaker informed that it would reach carbon neutrality by 2050. Honda’s immediate goal is to reduce carbon emissions by 46% compared to 2019 by 2030. Electrification of product lines, including cars and motorcycles, is included in this strategy. Honda is researching the application of green engine technologies to gradually replace internal combustion engines, including hybrid technology, pure electric vehicles, and fuel cell vehicles.

Mr. Sugita said that hybrid is an effective solution to environmental problems and is also the best solution for the Vietnamese market.

In the trend of electrification of the entire world automobile industry, Honda, and Toyota as well as other Japanese companies are lagging behind. Instead of producing and selling pure electric cars like many others, Japanese companies are prioritizing hybrids as well as investing more in fuel cell technology.

In an interview in Tokyo, Japan, for 2022, Honda CEO Toshihiro Mibe said that “our goal is to achieve carbon neutrality, not to produce electric vehicles.”

The CEO added that considering existing technologies, given the current (global) context, he believes pure electric vehicles are the best solution. “The reason I say that is even if I consider it Synthetic electronic fuel (e-fuel), in theory, the cost is not as low as gasoline at the moment”, Mibe explained.

Currently, Honda’s product portfolio on the world market has a number of models using hybrid engines, including Civic, Agreement, HR-V, CR-VJazz. Beside Jazz, the other four models are all sold in Vietnam, so it is possible that one of them will have a hybrid version this year. The Civic and HR-V debuted last year, and the Accord has no sales role, so the CR-V is expected to have a hybrid this year.

In addition, the template City the upgraded version has launched in India and has just been introduced in the Southeast Asian market There are also additional hybrid engine options.

Source: vnexpress.net