Honda Australia’s new CEO says the Japanese brand is going to have to make “hard decisions” about its lineup moving forward, with slower-selling nameplates like the Accord and Civic not guaranteed a future on legacy alone.
Speaking with CarExpert in Tokyo, Jay Joseph – chief executive officer for Honda’s local division – said “we’re not committing to any nameplate over the long term”.
“Customers decide what we get right and what we get wrong, and if the sales volume doesn’t justify a model staying in our lineup, then we have to make those hard decisions,” Mr Joseph said.
“I won’t tell you we’re committed to Civic [for example] in perpetuity, because if that’s not what customers want to buy for their reasons, if we’re not offering the best value proposition, then we won’t continue to carry models that aren’t sustainable.
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“In a perfect world, we would design a lineup that… would be able to satisfy customers throughout their lifecycle and all their life stages.
“Australia is an important market [for Honda], and we’re not manufacturing anything [in Australia], so it’s much more difficult to do that. Homologating global lineups to have right-hand drive is expensive, so we’ve been in a position for the last few years where we’ve had to take models from other right-hand drive markets.
“[Because of that] we didn’t design the lineup exactly the way we would have liked. As Honda looks at our business more globally… we’re now looking at our lineup in a more holistic way and designing a lineup that works for Australia a little differently than we’ve been able to in the past.
“One of the reasons I’m very confident about the future is we’ll be able to bring some products that fill some holes in our lineup.
Mr Joseph stopped short of clarifying exactly which gaps in the lineup Honda Australia is looking to fill, but we might have some clues already.
Honda Australia has already confirmed that updated versions of the CR-V and ZR-V SUVs will land around March-April 2026, boasting an updated e:HEV hybrid drivetrain and Google built-in AI software integration already seen in the Civic and Accord.
Further, the Japanese brand will make its e:HEV tech more widely available, promising an expanded range of variants for both the CR-V and ZR-V including the availability of all-wheel drive for the first time in Australia.
The teeny Super-One electric vehicle (EV) has also been confirmed for Australia during the second half of 2026, plugging the compact hatch-sized gap in Honda’s local lineup that was left by the Jazz. Honda will once again offer a sports coupe when the reborn Prelude arrives in mid-2026, too.
Beyond that, we also know that Honda Australia is considering the new 0 Series EV range – which includes a small and medium SUV as well as a mid-sized sedan – which will commence production in 2027-28.
While Honda Australia is forecasting year-on-year sales growth in 2025, it’s the SUVs in the brand’s lineup doing the heavy lifting. The CR-V, HR-V and ZR-V have accounted for 93.7 per cent of Honda’s sales in Australia year-to-date.
As of September 30, the Accord has returned just 78 registrations and the Civic 642, both down on the January-September period in 2024.
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