Japanese car brand Honda is set to ditch non-hybrid power entirely within two years, with only one of its models to keep it for a bit longer.
Honda’s Australian line-up will be hybrid-only by 2027-28 – except for its Civic Type R performance model.
The car maker told media at the launch of the updated 2026 Honda CR-V this week that it still believes hybrid is the “right path for now” despite the current boom in sales of fully-electric vehicles arising from the fuel crisis.
Robert Thorp, Honda Australia’s Director of Automotive, said the switch to a full hybrid range, as Toyota did in 2024 (excluding its four-wheel-drive SUV, commercial, and performance models), is not far away.
“I don't have a definitive time, but I would say it's not too far away at all. Somewhere between 2027 and 2028, it'll be 100 per cent hybrid,” he told the media, including Drive.
“It is always subject to change, you know, so you can lock these things in, but you have to make those adjustments strategically, the market might shift or consumer preferences shift and whatever that may be.
“Within the next 10 to 12 months, it's likely all of our line-up will be hybrid.
Asked if this would include its Civic Type R sports car, Thorp said in the short term it would remain petrol-powered, but the company is “still working our way through some of the finer details beyond 2027 to 2028.”
“There are a couple of exceptions within our line-up. Type R is probably the obvious example, where, certainly in the short-term, there's no hybrid offering within that [model range].”
The switch to a full hybrid portfolio, excluding Civic Type R, is not as far away as you might think.
The current Honda Civic and Accord are already hybrid-only models, and the new Prelude coupe will be too when it launches locally next month.
Two out of three variants of the HR-V SUV are hybrid, and the ZR-V’s range is expected to follow a similar pattern when it launches later this year. At present, 75 per cent is petrol-powered.
For 2026, Honda has completely revamped the CR-V’s line-up, killing off one of the seven-seat versions, and making four out of six grades hybrid, as well as bringing all-wheel drive and more features to the top-spec RS.
Honda says 85 per cent of all CR-Vs sold this year will be hybrid, contributing to 80 per cent of the brand’s overall sales being hybrid too, since the CR-V is its best-seller.
Bringing down the price of a hybrid CR-V has been crucial to making that goal even possible, with the entry point now $10,000 less than it was last year.
“For many years, I think the hybrid proposition has been a little bit out of reach for some buyers,” said Nick Parkington, Honda Australia’s General Manager of Automotive.
“In our previous line-up, hybrid sat at the top end of the scale…and so our update this year really democratises the hybrid technology. It brings it down the range and down the grade.”
Thorp added that adding more hybrid variants to the CR-V range helps it keep pace with rivals in what is the country’s most popular new-car segment.
“Look at the medium SUV segment last year, over half of the sales in that segment were battery [electric] or hybrid in nature, and that's only forecasted to grow,” he said.
“For a number of years now, we've had a firm belief that the transition to an electrified era is through hybrid, in that the majority of consumers will naturally transition to a hybrid vehicle before they move into a different technology.
“And whilst the market is shifting and changing quite rapidly, we still think that's actually the right strategy for right now on the basis that hybrid in particular doesn't really require any consumer behaviour change. It's actually an easy transition for people.”
Alongside its bevy of hybrid models, Honda Australia will launch its first fully-electric car, the Super One, later this year. Globally, its first mass-market EV was launched in 2020 in the form of the Honda e.
“We’re the biggest and largest producer of internal combustion engines in the world, and the biggest variety of them, they’re not done yet, but they will have to become sustainable,” said Jay Joseph, Honda Australia’s new President and CEO at the 2025 Tokyo Auto Salon.
“It’s important to remember that our goal is not electrifying our powertrains, our goal is achieving carbon neutrality and not contributing to climate change.”
Honda Motor Company Director, President, and Representative Executive Officer Toshihoro Mibe agreed, saying: “With both electric vehicles and hybrid vehicles, we believe they will be the two components that would support Honda’s automobile business.
A born-and-bred newshound, Kathryn has worked her way up through the ranks reporting for, and later editing, two renowned UK regional newspapers and websites, before moving on to join the digital newsdesk of one of the world’s most popular newspapers – The Sun. More recently, she’s done a short stint in PR in the not-for-profit sector, and led the news team at Wheels Media.
