JAPAN NEWS


 

Honda Motor Co. announced on Friday that it will postpone the launch of its mini commercial electric vehicle (EV), which had been scheduled to go on sale this spring, to autumn due to a longer-than-expected delay in parts procurement.

Pre-orders will begin in May, and the price and release date will be announced the following month, Honda said.

The model is a modified version of the N-VAN and will be Honda’s first mini-EV. It has a range of about 200 kilometers and is intended for short-distance delivery purposes.

Honda launched its first mass-produced EV in 2020, the Honda e, but sales were sluggish and production was halted in January. Nissan Motor Corp.’s mini-EV Sakura was selling well, and Honda had planned to recoup lost ground.

Toyota Motor Corp., Suzuki Motor Corp. and Daihatsu Motor Co. have been jointly developing a commercial mini-EV with the aim of launching it by the end of the last fiscal year. However, certification test irregularities involving Daihatsu that came to light in April last year have complicated production, leaving the launch date undetermined.