Honda has announced at the Frankfurt motor show that electric technology will feature in every new model the brand launches in Europe.
The company aims for ‘electrified’ vehicles (conventional hybrids, plug-in hybrids and full electric vehicles) to make up two-thirds of its new vehicle sales in Europe by 2025, as part of its ‘Electric Vision’ strategy. Globally, it hopes to achieve the same levels by 2030. This would set Honda well on the way to hitting the UK government’s requirement for all vehicles to be electrified by 2040.
To support this new vision, Honda also unveiled the Urban EV concept car and a CR-V Hybrid prototype at the show.
“Here in Europe, we see this move towards electrification gathering pace at an even higher rate than elsewhere,” said Honda President and CEO Takahiro Hachigo.
Hachigo also confirmed that the company’s electric future could be with us very soon, as a production version of the Urban EV has been confirmed for 2019. The futuristic design features of the concept could be the first glimpse of what future Honda vehicles may look like.
The CR-V Hybrid – set to launch in 2018 – will also be Honda’s first hybrid SUV available in Europe.