Honda posts first-ever annual loss in nearly 70 years as electric vehicle bet backfires

Honda Motor posted its first-ever annual loss this week since it was first listed on the stock market in 1957.

The Japanese car company’s bet on electric vehicle sales left it with $9 billion in restructuring costs due to low demand and President Donald Trump’s “Made in America” policies.

“EV demand has declined considerably, due to the rollback of environmental regulations in the U.S. and other factors,” Honda said in a statement.

CEO Toshihiro Mibe said on Thursday that the company, which suffered a $2.7 billion loss, would also abandon its target to make electric vehicle sales 20% of profits by 2030.

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The company had also previously set a goal to fully move to electric or fuel-cell vehicles by 2024.

Losses related to its electric vehicle operations are expected to reach $16 billion, the company said.

The Trump administration has moved away from electric vehicle incentive programs, including blocking California’s stringent electric vehicle mandates and removing former President Joe Biden’s EV tax credit.

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Honda, however, stemmed the bleeding through an increase in motorcycle sales – 20 million more than last year, which translated to a half a percent increase or $138 billion for the fiscal year through March.

Honda, which makes the Accord sedan and Super Cub motorcycles, sold 3.4 million vehicles around the world in the fiscal year through March, down from 3.7 million the previous year.

The company is the main motorcycle seller in some markets, including India.

Despite the loss, Honda is still forecasting a $1.7 billion profit for the fiscal year through March 2027.

“We will continue our research to develop future technologies including electric vehicle batteries,” Mibe said. “We will get back on a growth track,” adding that the company will continue a goal of carbon neutrality while acknowledging the need to work on hybrids and regular gasoline-engine models as well.

Reuters and the Associated Press contributed to this report.