Honda Cars Philippines has effectively ruled out launching the City e:HEV at least for the entirety of 2026. This was confirmed by Ms. Rie Miyake, president of Honda Cars Philippines, during the 2025 Honda Fest.
It seems Toyota Motor Philippines’ decision to offer its all-new Ativ with a hybrid system hasn’t deterred Honda from responding with its City sedan (or hatchback), even if it is available with an electrified 1.5-liter elsewhere.
According to Miyake-san: “In our path toward full electrification, our e:HEV models serve as a crucial step for the Philippine market at this time. By 2026, HCPI will offer 4 hybrid models in our line-up, all equipped with our advanced driver-assist system, Honda Sensing, in alignment with our 2050 global goals of achieving a collision-free society, having zero traffic accidents involving Honda vehicles, and carbon neutrality across our products and operations.”
With Honda Cars Philippines already offering the CR-V e:HEV, Civic e:HEV, and the HR-V e:HEV in their line-up, the fourth one will undoubtedly be the reborn sixth-generation Prelude e:HEV.
Miyake-san continued: “After much speculation, we are happy to announce that [the all-new Prelude] will be coming to this market in 2026. This is a new phase of our expanded hybrid lineup. The stylish, fun-to drive hybrid sport coupe will be equipped with our e:HEV full hybrid system and the S+ shift system. It is a specialty sports hybrid model in pursuit of the “joy of driving,” which creates an entirely new and immersive experience. We believe there is no better way to bridge our legacy and elevated technologies than with the Prelude. It is a classic made even better with its electrification, creating a nostalgic and advanced experience for the driver. We hope you will show the Prelude lots of love once it is launched next year.”
Available in markets such as Thailand, the City e:HEV offers an electrified 1.5-liter with 98 horsepower coming from the internal combustion engine and 109 horsepower from the electric motor (total output 126 horsepower). Torque reaches up to 253 Nm from zero rpm. This version is also the only City variant to get four-wheel disc brakes and an electronic parking brake.
Instead of the City e:HEV, Miyake-san has confirmed that Honda will instead offer the Honda 0 (Zero) series soon after their respective global launches. The Honda 0 Saloon, Honda 0 SUV, and the Honda 0 Alpha will all be heading to the Philippines.
UPDATE (12/6): Atty. Louie Soriano, Senior Vice-President at Honda Cars Philippines got in touch with us to clarify the contents of Miyake-san’s speech. Soriano says that the sub-compact sedan segment is one of HCPI’s most important markets and to that end, they are not ruling out the possibility of bringing the City e:HEV altogether.
It's kinda ironic for them to skip hybrid for one of their more popular models :/
ReplyDeleteEspecially since it is now an even more significant selling point to prospective buyers........Having a gateway hybrid vehicle to offer should be a no brainer.
Right now their current cheapest hybrid offering is the HRV at 1.8m. That is way above alot of other hybrid vehicles in the market.
And the Prelude will obviously be a niche hybrid offering
Seems to be a mistake. Honda PH needs a shakeup. Their core models used to be the Civic and CRV, then became the City and Jazz. Now it's the BRV. All of them are being edged out by the Chinese brands that offer excellent value for money. Meanwhile Honda is losing to it's fellow Japanese competitors who offer much of what they do at a better price and hindi na rin sila lugi sa features. Not sure what's going on at HCPH....
ReplyDelete