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Strong sales of hybrids, the all-electric Prologue and its SUV lineup led Honda to record sales in August.
• Honda set a sales record in August, with 28% of its sales coming from hybrid or electric models.
• Most of those cars are hybrids, but the all-electric Prologue is off to a strong start with 5,401 deliveries in August alone.
• It's already outselling cars like the Hyundai Ioniq 5 and Kia EV6, but we'll have to see if Honda can hold on to that momentum after the initial wave of buyers is satisfied.
Honda may be late to the long-range EV market, but it's off to a helluva start. The company posted record sales this August, buoyed by strong SUV and truck sales, a lot of hybrids and the all-new Honda Prologue EV.
The CR-V Hybrid.
Honda sold 127,900 cars last month, 35,886 of which were electrified. The vast majority of those are hybrids. Honda's new strategy has been to offer hybrid powertrains as the upgrade option for its mainstream cars. In order to get a loaded Touring model of the Accord or CR-V with the nice audio system, you have to get a hybrid. Positioning them as the premium option not only helps soften the perceived cost increase of the hybrid powertrain, it also accurately suggests that a hybrid is often a more luxurious, better long-term option. Skeptical buyers who want a loaded CR-V will likely be surprised by how nice it feels with the two-motor hybrid system assisting the four-cylinder gas engine.
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A couple years into this strategy, 51% of CR-Vs sold are hybrid. Honda sells a lot of hybrid Accords, too, though it didn't break out the number. And electrified sales are getting a boost from the newly introduced Civic Hybrid. Expect its contributions to grow over the next year.
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But it's the electric Prologue that's the real news. Honda was slow to launch a long-range EV, and when it did it plucked a GM-sourced Ultium model off the shelf. The Honda Prologue is essentially a rebadged Chevy Blazer EV. That's fine, as I like the Blazer EV. Hell, I leased one. I just didn't expect a rebadged Chevy EV to make much of an impression in the market.
The Honda Prologue EV.
I broke rule number one in the auto market: Never underestimate the power of branding. Honda has been building hybrid vehicles for 20 years, making consumers trust its electric options more than they trust those from brands that are less associated with fuel efficiency and frugalness. So Honda managed to move 5,401 Prologues in August alone. For reference, Chevy sold 6,634 Blazer EVs in the whole second quarter. So even when it's selling the exact same EV as Chevy, Honda sells it faster.
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That could be due to brand loyalty or trust. It could be because the Prologue didn't have the Blazer's launch troubles. It could be because the Prologue came out a few months later, and Honda is still satisfying the initial wave of demand, or because of good lease deals last month. Or it could be that, while almost everything about the Blazer and Prologue is identical, the Honda includes Apple CarPlay, and the Chevy doesn't.
To find out whether this lead is enduring, we'll have to see whether Honda can keep the Prologue selling through the next year. By that point, it should also have announced its first home-built long-range EV, made in the U.S. It may have been slow out of the gate, but don't count Honda out of the EV race just yet.