Honda will join Volkswagen in maintaining its sportier brands, even in the electric vehicle era.
Honda’s motobikethe much sought after Type R range, including CHEAP Citizenswill continue to be sold as electric vehicles in the future, giving the company’s hot hatch and other driver cars a future despite the demise of the internal combustion engine.
- Ford, Renault won’t have electric versions of their performance cars
- VW will have GTI, R EV product lines in the future
- Honda to phase out diesel engine lineup in India in April 2023
In recent years, Peugeot, Ford and renault scrapped their respective performance divisions due to a lack of profitability caused by strict emissions laws. However – in good news for hot hatchback fans – Honda has said that it will continue to sell Type R models. volkswagen also recently confirmed to our sister publication Autocar UK that they plan to continue with GTI and R badges.
The Future of CHEAP
“Without the Type R there is no Honda,” Hideki Kakinuma, chief engineer of Honda’s Type R project told Autocar UK. “Honda strongly believes that the joy of driving is at the core of personal and private mobility.” Speaking after the launch of the latest generation Civic Type R in the UK, he said: “Faced with very strict emissions and carbon neutrality regulations, it is difficult to think of a sports car. so at these boundaries,” added, “But for Honda, it’s just new barriers, new challenges to give customers the joy of driving. Yes, we would definitely like to bring more Type R.”
In what form the next Type R will arrive – the latest being the only non-electric model in Honda’s range in the UK – remains unknown. But the possibility that there will be another Type R without battery-electric power or hybrid support is “not zero,” according to Kakinuma.
“Carbon neutrality isn’t necessarily centered around the powertrain itself,” he said. It may be possible to achieve it even if you are driving a car with ICE. So I wouldn’t rule out the possibility that the next Type R could be an ICE. However, given the current circumstances, this is highly unlikely.”
Honda’s range of cars, SUVs in India: 2022 and beyond
By April 2023, Honda will eliminated its entire diesel engine lineup for India due to the implementation of the stringent Real Driving Emissions (RDE) standards. Brand is also ready a brand new SUV for India will come with powerful petrol and hybrid engines, and could see the light of day at some point next year.
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