Honda Motor Co., Ltd. FY2026 Earnings Call - Honda Takes JPY 1.57T EV Hit, Pivots Hard to Hybrids

Akira, MC, Corporate Communications, Honda Motor Co., Ltd.: Thank you very much for your participation today. It is quite a busy schedule, and I’d like to make a start of the financial results press conference for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2026, and the 2026 business briefing updates. My name is Akira from Corporate Communications, MC today. Thank you. Let me introduce the speakers today. The Director, President, and Representative Executive Officer, Toshihiro Mibe. Nice to meet you. My name is Mibe. Director, Executive Vice President, and Representative Executive Officer, Noriya Kaihara. Kaihara speaking. Nice to meet you. Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, Masao Kawaguchi. My name is Kawaguchi. Nice to meet you.

Mr. Mibe will give you the summary of the financial status now, followed by Mr. Kaihara to talk about the FY March 2026 results and expectations for March 2027. Later, Mr. Mibe will give you the business updates for Honda. Mibe-san, the floor is yours.

Toshihiro Mibe, Director, President, and Representative Executive Officer, Honda Motor Co., Ltd.: Thank you for showing understanding towards Honda’s business activities. I’ll now explain our financial results for the fiscal year ended March 2026, and our outlook for this fiscal year. First, a summary of our results. In the fiscal year ended 2026, the EV business environment underwent significant change. In response, we swiftly re-organized our EV business and related investments. By the third quarter, we recorded EV-related losses of JPY 267.1 billion, including provisions for losses and impairment losses on EVs already being sold in the United States. As explained on March 12th, the North America-produced EV models’ launch and development were canceled. In the fourth quarter, we posted additional JPY 1,310.6 billion in losses.

As a result, the fiscal year ended March 2026, EV-related total losses totaled JPY 1,577.8 billion. Operating profit for the fiscal year ended March 2026 was a loss of JPY 414.3 billion. Excluding the part of the EV-related losses that correspond to operating profit, i.e., JPY 1,453.6 billion, operating profit was JPY 1,039.3 billion. Motorcycle business, due to sales increase, in mainly India and Brazil, we achieved record high unit sales and operating profit. Automobile business, facing harsh business environment due to higher tariff burden and drop in unit sales and due to semiconductor supply shortage and others, we made company-wide effort to reduce cost and consequently, excluding EV-related losses, we were profitable.

Operating cash flow after R&D adjustments, which represents the source of future investments, came to JPY 2,657.9 billion, maintaining strong cash-generating capability, as was the case in the previous fiscal year. Next, consolidated earnings outlook for FY ending March 2027. Regarding EV-related losses, while it is difficult at this point to give a precise amount, we reviewed details to our best means and set the EV-related losses at JPY 500 billion for the fiscal year ending March 2027. Though there is concern over the current Middle East situation and impact of rising material prices, operating profit excluding EV-related losses is forecast to be JPY 1 trillion. Operating profit, including EV-related losses, is forecasted to be a surplus of JPY 500 billion.

By business segment, motorcycle business, with the expansion of production capacity in India to capture the strong demand, we will aim for record unit sales of 22.8 million units. Automobile business. In Asia, due to model change, unit sales will be retained, while gasoline hybrid model sales will be enhanced, mainly in North America to boost profitability. Shareholder returns in the fiscal year ending March 2027 will be an annual dividend of JPY 70, the same year-on-year. About our financial soundness. As explained, R&D-adjusted operating cash flow will maintain a strong cash-generating capability. The operating company’s net cash balance at the end of March 2026 was JPY 3.3 trillion, meaning we have ample cash at hand.

Noriya Kaihara, Director, Executive Vice President, and Representative Executive Officer, Honda Motor Co., Ltd.: Regarding equity to asset ratio, supported by retained earnings accumulated from the past, the financial position of our operating companies, excluding financial services business, maintains equity ratio of 55%, showing a high level of financial soundness. Next, the details of our financial results will be explained by Mr. Kaihara. First, the results of the fiscal year ended March 2026, followed by the outlook for the fiscal year ending March 2027. Fiscal year ending March 2026, total group unit sales year-on-year were: motorcycles, mainly due to the increase in Asia and South America, 22,101,000 units. Automobile business due to drop in Asia, mainly China, 3,387,000 units. Power products, mainly due to decline in Asia, 3,589,000 units.

The consolidated financial results of the fiscal year ended March 2026. Both fiscal years ending March 2026 and 2027 will post EV-related losses due to revising Honda’s automobile electrification strategy. This makes it difficult to see the underlying business performance. Therefore, we are disclosing operating profit before reflecting EV losses, as referred to as adjusted profit. The consolidated results of the fiscal year ended March 2026 compared to the previous year are as follows: Operating profit, a loss of JPY 414.3 billion, down JPY 1,627.8 billion. Share of profit, loss of investments accounted for by equity method, a loss of JPY 162 billion, down JPY 163 billion.

Net profit loss, profit loss attributable to owners of the parent was a loss of JPY 423.9 billion, down JPY 1,259.7 billion. Excluding EV-related losses, adjusted operating profit was JPY 1,039.3 billion. Adjusted net profit attributable to owners of the parent, JPY 795.5 billion. Next, the change in operating profit compared to the previous fiscal year. Operating profit, a loss of JPY 414.3 billion, down JPY 627.8 billion. Contributing factors are sales impacts due to mainly semiconductor supply shortage. Though automobile unit sales declined, motorcycle unit sales increased, reaching an increase of JPY 117.8 billion.

Price and cost impact, price revision effect, up JPY 292.3 billion. Expenses down JPY 118.5 billion. R&D down JPY 41.7 billion. Foreign currency effect down JPY 77 billion. Tariff impacts down JPY 346.9 billion. Adjusted operating profit, excluding EV-related losses, JPY 1,039.3 billion. Next, regarding operating profits, by business segments. For motorcycles, operating profit was JPY 731.9 billion, achieving the record highest. Automobiles, due to the impact of the EV-related losses of JPY 1.4536 trillion, we put up the losses of JPY 1.4111 trillion. However, adjusted operating profit excluding EV-related losses, marked JPY 42.5 billion.

Financial service businesses marked the operating profit of JPY 275.5 billion, and the power products and other businesses, JPY 10.6 billion losses. Operating profit of motorcycle businesses was at JPY 731.9 billion, up by JPY 68.4 billion year on year. Breakdown of the factors for changes are sales impact, positive by JPY 86 billion due to sales unit increase, mainly in Asia and South America. Price and cost impact was positive by JPY 70.4 billion due to effective price revisions and so on. Expenses impact was negative by JPY 51.5 billion. R&D impact was positive by JPY 3.6 billion. Foreign currency impact, negative by JPY 28 billion.

Tariff impact was negative by JPY 12.1 billion. Operating profit of businesses dropped by JPY 1.6549 trillion, ended up in operating losses of JPY 1.4111 trillion year-on-year. Breakdown of the factors for changes. Sales impact due to the impact mainly of the supply shortages of the semiconductors and with resultant drop of sales volume and the increase of the incentives impact was negative by JPY 47.8 billion. The price cost impact was positive by JPY 223 billion due to effective price revisions and so on. Expenses impact positive by JPY 44.1 billion. R&D impact was negative by JPY 47.3 billion. Foreign currency impact negative by JPY 41.6 billion.

Tariff impact was negative by JPY 331.6 billion. The adjusted operating profit, excluding EV-related losses, was JPY 42.5 billion. Let me move on to the cash flow situations. Free cash flows, excluding financial service businesses, was JPY 1.58 trillion as of the fiscal year ended March 2026. Net cash balance at the end of the fiscal year was JPY 3.3245 trillion. Operating cash flow after R&D adjustment was JPY 2.6579 trillion. Let me explain consolidated forecast for FYE March 2027.

Regarding group sales volume year on year, the unit sales of the motorcycle business is expected to be 22.8 billion units, reflecting incremental businesses, mainly the Asia. Automobiles reflect increase in mainly in North America and reduction mainly in China and Asia. It will be at 3.39 billion units. Power products and businesses, 3.65 billion units are expected, mainly reflecting incremental businesses in Asia. Regarding consolidated financial forecast by FY March 2027, operating profit will be JPY 500 billion. A profit for the period attributable to the owners of the parent is expected to be JPY 260 billion. Operating profit after adjustment will be equivalent to the one of the previous fiscal year, JPY 1 billion.

Profit for the period attributable to the owners of the parent after adjustment will be JPY 620 billion. Currency assumption for the full year is set at JPY 145 for $1. Let me explain factors for changes of adjusted operating profit year on year. The adjusted operating profit is down by JPY 39.3 billion year on year, for which the factors for changes. The sales impact would be positive by JPY 266.7 billion due to increase of sales unit of motorcycles and automobiles. Price and cost impact. The positive effect by cost reduction and price provisions would be expected because of a soaring material prices due to the impact, including Middle Eastern situations.

JPY 313 billion negative effect is expected. Expenses negative by JPY 8 billion. R&D impact positive by JPY 10 billion. Foreign currency negative impact by JPY 142 billion. The tariff impact by will be positive by JPY 147 billion. Expected capital expenditures, depreciation, amortization and R&D spending for FY March 2027 will be as follows on the slide. Reflecting increase in CapEx for acquisition of factory buildings and so on of the battery production JV with LG Energy Solution. Those are the numbers we would put up. Regarding payouts, end of the fiscal year dividend will be JPY 35 per share for FY March 2026, with annual payouts to be JPY 70.

Akira, MC, Corporate Communications, Honda Motor Co., Ltd.: Expected annual dividend of FY March 2027 will be JPY 70 for the share, same as the preceding year. Thank you very much for your attention. Now we’d like to proceed to the 2026 business update. Please wait until we arrange the stage. Thank you for waiting. We now like to resume. Mibe-san, please.

Toshihiro Mibe, Director, President, and Representative Executive Officer, Honda Motor Co., Ltd.: Now, in light of the financial results I explained, I would like to introduce the future direction of Honda’s automobile business. With the aim of carbon neutrality by 2050, Honda had been taking initiatives towards the popularization phase of EVs. We decided to discontinue launch of 3 EV models in North America, as we have already announced. This, however, by no means is an indication that Honda is withdrawing from the EV business. We’ll continue EV sales in regions such as Japan and Asia to meet local customer needs in line with EV adoption speed. In North America as well, we will carefully monitor market conditions, customer demand, and lay the groundwork to deliver compelling products when the timing is right. That said, the fundamental issue facing our automobile business is not simply the slowdown in the EV market.

In the past, Honda’s automobile business underwent deep structural transformations to the point where gasoline, ICE, and hybrid models alone generated close to JPY 1 trillion in operating profit, including EV-related losses. However, in North America, Honda’s principal market currently, our profit is down due to failure to fully absorb development cost burden. In China and ASEAN countries, where competition is increasingly intense with emerging OEMs, a loss of competitiveness in sales prices and speed of offering new value to market is pushing down unit sales. We therefore believe the key to restructuring our automobile business is to, 1, improve our cost structure. 2, increase in- for development efficiency. 3, concentrate corporate resources in regions where we choose to take a more proactive approach and enhance the lineup with compelling products.

Going forward, we will first focus on rebuilding automobile business structure over the next 3 years. Combined with the continued growth of our motorcycle and financial service businesses, which enjoys solid profit structure, we will strive to recover operating profit to a record high by the fiscal year ending March 31st, 2029. In parallel, starting in 2027, we will begin introducing next-generation hybrid models. In North America, Japan, and India, our priority regions, introduce new products in underserved product categories while carefully assessing customer needs, thereby expand our product lineups. We’ll not rely fully on ourselves, but we will adopt a flexible approach that also leverages external resources in implementing these initiatives. In line with this direction, we have defined 3 key pillars, strategic reallocation of corporate resources. Two, a thorough strengthening of our manufacturing structure.

3, strategic utilization of external resources. Let me explain 1 by 1. The first pillar is strategic allocation of corporate resources. Our initiatives will be broadly divided into 2. The first is the reassessment of the powertrain portfolio with an eye on future demand trends. To be more specific, we will reallocate more development and production resources into hybrid models. In doing so, we will accelerate the market launch of hybrid models ahead of the original schedule and increase compelling products. Based on our belief that hybrid models, where Honda has strength, will continue to be the key to addressing environmental challenges until around 2030 when EVs will be more popular. From 2026, we will begin launching our next-generation hybrid models featuring both an all-new hybrid system and platform.

We plan to launch 15 next-generation hybrid models globally by the end of the fiscal year ending March 2030, primarily in North America. In this hall are two prototypes, the Honda hybrid sedan prototype and Acura hybrid SUV prototype. Both are scheduled to be launched within the next two years. We’ll continue to roll out new models equipped with our next-generation hybrid technology across both the Honda and Acura brands to further strengthen our hybrid vehicle lineup. To meet strong demand for large-size hybrid vehicles in North America, in 2029, we will launch large-size hybrid models in the D segment or above, featuring powerful driving and towing capability with high environmental performance. Our next-generation hybrid system will realize the world’s most efficient powertrain through advancements such as an expansion of engine high efficiency range and increased drive efficiency of the hybrid unit.

By combining our next-generation platform’s all-round evolutions, such as steering stability, crash safety, and further weight reduction, with the electric AWD unit, Honda will strive to improve the fuel economy by more than 10% and further evolve driving experience unique to Honda. Also, to reduce cost of mainly key components, such as batteries and motors, we will engage in various co-creation activities with suppliers, further improve production efficiency, and pursue commonalization of parts and components. We aim to reduce cost of our next-generation hybrid system by more than 30% vis-à-vis our 2023 models. We will also offer new mobility experience to our customers with models equipped with our next-generation ADAS under development, from 2028. We will plan to start introducing the next-generation ADAS into more than 50 models over a five-year period.

By installing Honda’s next-generation ADAS to our affordable hybrid models, we want more customers to experience Honda’s unique value proposition that combines the joy of driving at will and a stress-free and comfortable mobility experience. To consistently meet demand, we will strengthen our production and parts supply operations for hybrid models. At our auto plants in Ohio, we will reallocate all of the excess capacity to production of gasoline, ICE, and hybrid models. Furthermore, we will make all auto plants in North America capable of producing hybrid models. Next, batteries, the key to increase in production. We are working towards the production and supply of highly competitive batteries by converting part of the EV battery production lines at LH Battery Company, our joint venture with LG Energy Solution, to hybrid battery production.

As for motor and inverters, we will further increase the local content of assy and component parts by more than four times to reduce risk of supply shortage and mitigate impacts of tariffs. Our second initiative, the enhancement of product lineup in each of our priority regions. We have positioned, rather, North America, Japan, and India as priority markets for our future growth strategy and will strategically allocate our resources to these markets. Since I have already covered North America, let me explain initiatives we will take in other regions. Japan. First, Japan. The home market of Honda is not merely a market where Honda seeks volume and share. Rather, it plays a critical role as a market where we redefine new technologies and value propositions and demonstrate their level of maturity to global market. First is EV.

In Japan, we will expand our EV model lineup starting from the mini vehicle, kei car, category. Mini vehicles are popular in Japan and align well with EVs, which are clean and quiet. To be more specific, following the market launch of the Honda N-VAN e: in 2024 and the N-ONE e: in 2025, we are preparing to launch in 2028, the EV version of the N-BOX, which has been the best-selling new vehicle in Japan for 11 consecutive years. For registered cars, the all-new EV Insight was launched in April, and the Super-One, a compact EV, will go on sale later this month. In Japan, we will focus on offering a broad EV lineup and amass know-how for the future popularization of EVs.

Moreover, in addition to the Sport Line and Trail Line models announced at the Tokyo Auto Salon this January, starting in 2027, we will introduce next-generation hybrid models, mostly in the SUV category. From 2028 onward, starting with the all-new Vezel, we will equip our Q models with our new next-generation ADAS. Through these initiatives, we will enhance the lineup of high value-added products in all vehicle categories. We will strive to, one, achieve new vehicle sales greater than the current unit sales. Two, establish a solid business foundation. Next is India. India is one of the few markets in the world where growth is expected. However, currently, Honda has presence in only a limited range of product segments and has not been able to fully expand unit sales due to an insufficient number of competitive models in each segment.

One contributing factor is that we have not been able to deliver products that meet customer characteristics and preferences in India. It has been our standard practice to develop and sell all products based on global standard performance specifications, regardless of target countries and regions. However, climate conditions, vehicle usage, customer preferences, and others vary significantly from country to country and region to region. Environmental and other regulations are different. Our global standard approach may have been somewhat excessive. Therefore, we will redefine the best specifications that fully match the market environment and customer needs in India. in 2028, we will begin introducing strategic models tailored to the Indian market, seeking optimal balance of performance and price to satisfy customers in India. More specifically, we will launch our strategic models in two categories.

Vehicles under four meters in length, the largest volume segment, and mid-size category. We will proactively utilize local development resources, including external resources, and introduce new models as quickly as possible. The solid motorcycle business will be our key strength in this market. In India, Honda’s annual motorcycle sales nears 6 million units and has the largest UIO, units in operation, and sales networks. Honda has also a robust supply chain. In India, the price range of motorcycles are close to the price range of entry-level automobiles. We will fully utilize our competitiveness in motorcycle business and strive to grow by steadily capturing customers upgrading from motorcycles to automobiles. Moreover, this April, we established Honda Digital Innovation India, a digital platform company which will utilize the Honda Digital Foundation.

To address the diverse needs of our customers, we will enhance synergies between our motorcycle and automobile business in India. In addition, our captive finance company, it is scheduled to become operational before the end of the current fiscal year, ending March 2027. Strengthening our financial services business will help expand sales opportunities for our motorcycles and automobile products. The last part of our regional strategy is China, where we need to fundamentally strengthen our competitiveness. As you know, competition in the Chinese market is intensifying, and Honda is facing a very challenging business environment, including a decline in production and unit sales. Here are some initiatives we are taking to continue competing in the market.

First, for the China domestic market, we will pursue cost reduction using locally sourced standard components while incorporating local technologies for next-generation technologies such as ADAS to keep pace with the overwhelming speed of advancement of intelligent technologies in China. Furthermore, by introducing NEVs built on platforms provided by local partners, we will better serve the needs of customers in China. We will also apply initiatives to improve development efficiency in China, such as the use of standard components to market outside China to strengthen our products and cost competitiveness in S-ASEAN and other regions. The second pillar, in order to deliver competitive products, we will focus on strengthening our lean and agile manufacturing structure. I will introduce three specific initiatives we are undertaking.

First is a fundamental cost reduction, particularly with the cost of outsourced parts, we will improve our cost structure on a global basis. One, by reassessing Honda-specific standards and utilizing standardized components. two, by incorporating the competitiveness of local businesses in China and India. The second is a thorough improvement of development efficiency. This initiative addresses three challenges we face in competition with emerging OEMs. They are, one, development cost, two, development duration, and three, development man-hours or workload. We will re-assess the so-called engineering chain management and increase our production efficiency by reducing each of the three items by half vis-à-vis 2025, and we call this Triple Half.

In addition to improving efficiency in the design, testing, and production preparation, through the use of digital environment and AI, we will transform our development process by reassessing development requirements, as well as product planning and development management to reduce development cost and man-hours, and shorten the development time. Starting this fiscal year, we will reduce the development time for minor model change by half. Full model change development time will also be halved, starting with development projects that start in 2028. This will enable us to introduce up-to-date products more quickly and continuously. Finally, the building, a manufacturing structure resilient to business environment changes.

To establish a robust manufacturing structure capable of securing profitability, even when market conditions call for reduced production, we’ll aim for a 20% improvement in production efficiency over the next five years by, one, efficiently injecting and allocating resource investment in new models and equipment, and two, increased efficiency and speed through the use of digital technologies. The third pillar is the strategic use of external resources. To build the future competitiveness, in-house resourcing of the technologies, resources, and parts can be one of the effective approaches. However, it will require substantial investments and allocation of resources. In an increasingly uncertain market environment, it might lead to the loss of the competitive advantage.

As I mentioned already, we will strategically leverage the cost competitiveness and speed of local businesses in China and India and other countries, or the use of industry-standard components and so on, so that we can improve our competitiveness by flexible and the strategic use of the external resources. As for batteries, we will not pursue complete in-house resourcing for the time being. Instead, we will maximize use of the AH Batteries facilities. Keeping an eye on the future demand growth for EVs, we will push forward operational efficiencies, catering for highly demanded hybrid vehicles and other applications for some time, so that our battery procurement strategy will be formulated, focusing on the competitiveness in North America.

Based on such a strategy, we have decided of an indefinite suspension of the project to build a comprehensive value chain in Canada, which we announced last year for its postponement about 2 years. We will carefully monitor the market conditions and will continue to reassess our procurement strategies. While working on to further refine the core of our competitive advantage, we will proactively leverage external competitiveness and resources in the areas where we determined that they can increase speed, flexibility, and cost competitiveness, thereby strengthening our overall competitiveness. Up to this point, I have explained the three pillars of our strategy to rebuild our automobile business structure toward 2030. From here, I’d like to explain the directions beyond 2030.

In the mid and long term, and in the even more uncertain business environments, we must lay solid technological groundwork while ensuring greater flexibility and wider range of options so that we will be well prepared to meet the demand when it emerges. First of all, our directions to achieve our carbon neutrality by 2050 remains unchanged, because we believe it is a responsibility we must pursue as long as Honda conducts businesses as a comprehensive mobility company. Besides, we will carefully assess the market environment, demands, trends in each region and take a multifaceted approach to achieving carbon neutrality, which we will include not only EVs, but also various other technologies such as hybrid vehicles, carbon neutral fuels, carbon offset technologies, and so on.

As I mentioned in the beginning, we continue laying groundwork for the sake of the EV demands that may expand again.

In order to launch compelling products in a timely manner when the time comes, we are continuing to work to prepare for highly competitive EV hardware platforms, as well as the research and development of all-solid-state batteries for the future. Furthermore, we continue to pursue initiatives to enhance application of intelligent technology in order to offer new mobility experiences on board. Looking ahead, we will apply ASIMO OS, the original vehicle OS of Honda to a wide range of Honda vehicles from ICE to EVs so that the value of the cross-domain mobilities will improve. Moreover, for the E&E architecture, the key to embodied initiative, we adopted a domain-based architecture that can flexibly address changes in customer needs and market conditions, as well as utilization of the external resources.

With the adoption of unifiers of the architecture, we will be able to achieve highly efficient development. This will enable us to continually deliver new value to customers in a timely manner while pursuing both flexibility and competitiveness. So far, I have explained the initiatives we are taking for automobile businesses. Now let me move on to the motorcycle business that shows a remarkable growth. As I mentioned earlier in the financial results announcement, our motorcycle sales for the fiscal year ended March 26th was 22.1 billion units, which is approximately 40% share of the global market. The global motorcycle market is expected to grow from the current sale of 50 million units to 60 million units by 2030.

We will further increase our market share and enhance our presence in the market by introducing products more aligned with the increasingly diverse customer needs, and by optimizing production capabilities. For example, India, largest market. Our market share is approximately 28% at the end of the fiscal year, ending March 26, delivering approximately 5.8 million units. However, customer demand is showing a trend, stepping up from a current most popular 100 cc class to 125 or 160 classes. The similar trend is observed in Central South America too. We will steadily address the shift of our demands by implementing initiatives to launch attractive products and to enhance the sales network and service capabilities.

In Central and South America, emerging motorcycle OEMs from India and China are beginning to strengthen their presence. We will be definitely taking aggressive approach by taking advantage of the competitive resources leveraged from India and China, just like the automobile segments. Moreover, we will further strengthen production operations to accommodate for global expanding demands in India. We plan to expand our production capacity from the current 6.25 billion units to approximately eight billion in 2028, further to evolve facilities there as an export hub. Through various initiatives such as in-house production of parts, modularization of the chassis, acceleration of the local procurement and so on, the cost competitiveness and speed will be enhanced.

Thereby, we can expand exports to South-Central South America, where the conditions of the roads and the customer preferences are close to India. Indonesia, Philippines, Brazil, we will progressively strengthen motorcycle production supply operations to establish business environment to accommodate demands over there. In addition, we will further sophisticate to commercial value of the products with the development of the dual clutch transmission on the E-Clutch, a number of original technologies Honda continues to offer. Joy of riding and joy of maneuvering are for customers. Going forward, we will create new values with local technologies unique to Honda to differentiate from other emerging competitors. Regarding EVs, growth momentum of the electrification market is slowing as compared to initial projection.

Nevertheless, we are observing the case like Vietnam, where the shift to electric models, it progresses rapidly because of the environmental regulation changes. The outlook of the motorcycle market is still uncertain. In India, we will introduce electric motorcycle models that meet customer needs as planned, and then proceed with the construction of a specific factory dedicated to the EV models. The development of EV models will proceed relentlessly, and we will pre-capture changes in the market environment and customer demands and take a flexible and agile approach to product launches and establishment of production operations. Now, I’ll explain our financial strategy in light of what I discussed so far.

As I mentioned earlier, over the next three years, we will focus on rebuilding our automobile business’ structure and transform the business into a stable and profitable business. In the meantime, we will continue to make investments for future growth. EV-related investments will be controlled at a certain level while ensuring a readiness to respond quickly to future EV demands. In addition, for hybrid vehicles, we will prepare to enhance our product lineups to the priority markets I explained today. As a result of those initiatives, our financial targets of FY March 2029, three years from now, we will achieve operating profit beyond JPY 1.4 trillion, the all-time high. That is our aim.

During two years after that, based on the rebuilt business structure, we will introduce compelling products prepared for the priority markets on the basis of such business structure as established. That way, we can enhance the automobile business for our growth strategy. In March 2031, five years from now, new model launches in new model segments in North America, India, Japan will take effect. Initiatives like a triple half in the development domain will be actively showing the results. Thus our business efficiency will enhance dramatically to aim for a ROIC target of 10% as have been pursuing for long. Now let me explain our capital allocation plans until FYE March 2029.

In those 3 years, we will reallocate our resources originally scheduled for EVs to the hybrid vehicles instead. Regarding resource allocation for EVs, though we will continue to prepare for the recovery of the EV demands in the future, for the time being, it will be kept controlled to approximately JPY 0.8 trillion level over 3 years. For the softwares, given the software application essential for all, including hybrid models, we plan to allocate the resources at approximately JPY 1 trillion. That is consistent with the original plan. ICE and hybrid models, we will make a strategic investment for future growth in the priority market. We can plan to invest a totally JPY 4.4 trillion for the 3 years.

The investment for those three years will be JPY 6.2 trillion in total. As for operating cash flow after interest adjustment, due to turnaround of the automobile segment and powerful cash generation of the motorcycle businesses, it will be expected to be more than JPY 7 trillion, excluding EV-related losses. Consequently, we will continue to invest for the future growth while steadily securing the funds for shareholder returns. After our FYE March 2030, we will carefully assess the trend of EV demands in North America and make decisions for EV investment further. Regarding investment decisions in highly uncertain business environments, we will utilize assets of the past investments or leverage external resources, not persisting on our external resources only, so that investment efficiencies will be much improved.

Finally, regarding dividends, as you can see here, since 2008 global financial crisis, Honda has faced with challenging business environments, Great East Japan Earthquake, COVID-19. We have positioned the stable and continuous dividend payouts as one of our key corporate management priorities. Our payouts have never been reduced, and going forward, we will aim to maintain stable and continuous payouts with a target of about DOE 3%. Though we’ll balance the realization of a rebuilding of business structure, efficient investment for future growth and shareholder returns, we will make sure to lead enhance the corporate values in medium, long-term perspective. Lastly, I’d like to explain the evolution of the corporate governance structures.

Since transitioning to company to three committees in 2021, Honda has significantly expanded the scope of authority delegated from the board of directors to executive officers, aiming for to ensure greater agility in management led by the executive officers. The we have strengthened supervisory functions of each committee the board of directors through various measures. By appointing chairpersons of the three committees from independent directors we have advanced our governance structures according to the external environment. However our management team recognize the importance of continuously and consistently seeking the realizing optimal corporate governance structure in the light of the operations expected by the shareholders and customers.

We expect our business environment will continue to be uncertain for as the foreseeable future. We decided to once again reassess our governance structure to accelerate advancement. In order to ensure steady execution of each business strategy, as well as bold and transparent decision-making necessary for such a strategy execution. First, to strengthen the supervisory function of the board of directors and enable more transparent decision-making, board of directors will be composed of a majority of outsider directors, aiming to further enhance the effectiveness of the board and each board. Chair of the board will be assumed by outsider person.

Finally, to ensure more transparent decision-making regarding the appointment and the dismissal of the directors, evaluation and the compensation of the directors and the executive officers, all the members of the nominating and compensation committees will be composing of the outsider directors. The business environment surrounding Honda is uncertain, unprecedentedly uncertain and tough. Even under such circumstances, we will sincerely and steadily execute initiatives for rebuilding our automotive business that we outlined today. We are committed to achieve to stronger growth strategy with a strong motorcycle business and solid financial foundation. We would like to set up another opportunity before the end of the current fiscal year to share more details about the technologies and strategies for our next generation hybrid models. Please keep an eye on to our announcement.

Thank you for your attention.

Akira, MC, Corporate Communications, Honda Motor Co., Ltd.: Thank you for your listening. Now I’d like to proceed to Q&A, but, please wait while we prepare the stage. Thank you for waiting. Ladies and gentlemen, now we’d like to proceed to Q&A. Those of you who have questions, please wait until the microphone is brought to you. Please raise your hand if you have a question. Please state your name and affiliation before you ask your question. We thank for your cooperation. Also, because of the limited time, please limit your questions to two per person. If possible, please make clear whether it’s a question in regards to the business update or the financial results. Those who have questions, please raise your hand. The person who’s closest to me, the person in the second row here. Yasunaga from NHK. Thank you very much.

To Mr. Mibe, about the business update, I’d like you to ask questions. First, 2050, your carbon neutrality target. You said that this is in place, but up until you were talking about the EV FCV 100% by 2040. What happened to this target? Mr. Yasunaga, thank you very much. Yes, well, carbon neutrality by 2050. As I’ve already explained in my presentation, this is something that the society on the whole has to engage in, and as the corporate responsibility will not change this target. Now, as a means, in the past we were saying EV, FCV sales ratio will be managed, but we have been given numbers.

Toshihiro Mibe, Director, President, and Representative Executive Officer, Honda Motor Co., Ltd.: Because of the uncertainty in the business environment and also the customer demand, is changing beyond our expectation and, therefore, we have judged that it’ll be difficult to achieve. About the sales ratio target, we’ve decided to withdraw this. Now, going forward, hybrid and battery EV included, electrification and carbon neutral, fuel, carbon offset technology. Well, I’m combining all these, we as a target, the total CO2, reduction, will be our target. About the sales ratio, target, well, the reason why we set this out was because it was easy to understand for both people inside and outside our company, and therefore, we set the sales ratio target.

at this opportunity, well, I think it’s more important for us to look at the CO2 reduction, and this should be the objective, and therefore, we have decided to change our target aligned with this. Well, it’s a lot very difficult to predict because of uncertainty, and it’s difficult to set out specific milestones. I cannot communicate to you any specific milestones, but at 2035 we are working on numbers that we would like to achieve by 2035. Once this is finalized, I think that we can announce this to you. Well, by 2040, CV, EV 100%, well, that ratio, I think, is not realistic as of now.

As I said at the outset, we have withdrawn this target, and instead, we are going to set our target based on the total CO2 emission. That’s all from me. Thank you. You will not present any sales ratio. The next target will not be sales ratio, but it’s a total CO2 emission. Another question. About, we were trying to break away from engine, and in five years or so, well, the environment, as you’ve said, has changed significantly and you had to revise your plan. What is your take on this, Mr. Mibe? About the outlook, I think there’s a lot of uncertainty going ahead. Can you share your thoughts on the outlook?

Well, the North American market is our main market and the significant changes in the market does impact us a great deal, just as we see in this case. The electrification strategy was made under the Obama-Biden administration. It was in line with the administration’s environmental policies. A year ago, there has been a drastic change, and we have seen a shift from the focus from environmental to the opposite. Therefore, the major reason for this massive impairment is because the zero series that we’re planning for. Well, we had been developing it, and as of 2024, we had the development phase completed, and we had been entering into phase where we’re producing the dies.

Seeing this major change in the U.S. administration, we were not able to flexibly respond. Now, what we explained today is due to the change in geopolitics and also environmental policies. Going forward, we want to be able to have a strategy in place which can even endure such challenges. Rather than just focusing on EV, we want to be flexible whether we need to head towards EV or the other direction. Once we see what direction we have to head towards, I think we can focus our efforts and be more focused in investing our resources. At this point in time, because it is uncertain and we think that uncertainty will continue, we want to have a more flexible strategy.

Akira, MC, Corporate Communications, Honda Motor Co., Ltd.: This is the change that we want to make, and this was the gist of today’s business update. Thank you. Next question, please. Please, in this area.

Thank you. Nikkei Shimbun. My name is Mukano. I have two questions. First question, China and India, their cost competitiveness and speed are now to be utilized by yourself. You had reverse import, let’s say, from there until now. How does the changes going forward? You had a supply chain already there, and are going to destroy the supply chain over there from now? Or in China, you are saying that you’re going to utilize a local partner platform. Do they are going to use their Tongfu, Dongfeng, or Jiha, well, their partner company platform? When are you going to start with that?

Toshihiro Mibe, Director, President, and Representative Executive Officer, Honda Motor Co., Ltd.: Thank you for your question. China and India constant suppliers. In India and China, we’ve developed our businesses so far. As I said today, Honda has global requirements, and we protected them, and we prioritize the quality to accommodate for that in our production activities. It was not probably good enough in this business today for EV. Now in China and India there are some standard parts that are suitable for their markets, and there are some track record of utilizing them over there, so we can build our vehicles based on their standard parts. If that is not a problem, we can expand the use of those standard parts components from there to build more vehicles.

We can change idea of Honda a little bit now. We can try to look at the cost and the local requirements in a good balance so that we can reduce the cost overall. First of all we’d like to check its effectiveness the approach the effectiveness in India and China. If that works so we can expand it globally. What happens to the Japanese suppliers? I think that’s your question. We are not necessarily defining or to work with the Chinese suppliers or Indian suppliers or so on. There’s no definite way because 40% of the market is supported by the emerging competitors.

They are sort of setting up the competitive ne-standard, and we need to change a bit to bat against that. Therefore, as long as they meet with the standard, whoever the supplier of whichever the country, we can work together so that we can improve our commercial value of the products. I don’t want to mislead.

We don’t mean that we are going to use more Chinese and Indian suppliers more and more going forward. It does not really mean only that way. They will be giving a kind of the standard as well. Platforms we are still in the discussions with the partner companies so I cannot give you the details today. There are two companies only I suppose. With the partners we can utilize their platform to build a new products. That is all I can say today. Thank you. One more question. About HEV. In 2030 you had a target of 2.2 million units.

Akira, MC, Corporate Communications, Honda Motor Co., Ltd.: are you going to keep that targets, or do you set a new targets? also the fuel efficiency improvements and the intelligence use, do you have a profitability target as well, not just those volume targets? I said that we will strengthen our business in hybrid. I’m not sure if I should talk about our volume specifically, but based on our plans, 2.2 million that was the number we had, for which our intent is to try to go and reach 2.5 million. hybrid plus, of course, we need to get the profits based on the new hybrid system. we have the hybrid system of 2023.

Toshihiro Mibe, Director, President, and Representative Executive Officer, Honda Motor Co., Ltd.: We are trying to reduce the cost of that by 30% against that year. I think we could have a 50% cost reduction against that in 2027 also, I suppose. A new platform will be coming in. Cost-wise, 10%, and by weight, 90 kilograms reduction expected. Platform, new hybrid system both together will give us a good businesses and ensure the good Honda vehicle performance. Would that be right? Thank you.

Akira, MC, Corporate Communications, Honda Motor Co., Ltd.: Next questioner, please. The person in the middle, second row. Please ask the two questions at once. Bescar Tarasaki. Thank you. About the business update. In the next three years, ICE hybrid investment JPY 4.4 trillion. This is a huge amount. This means that you’ll have an internal combustion engine, but a new engine. Are you going to develop a new internal combustion engine? Is that the correct understanding? That’s the first question. The next question. No one’s going to ask this, so I’m going to. Ever since you’ve been listed, it’s the first time that Honda is posting a deficit. Mr. Mibe, as president, how do you take your responsibility? Please share with us your thoughts about your responsibility.

Toshihiro Mibe, Director, President, and Representative Executive Officer, Honda Motor Co., Ltd.: Well, your first question about hybrid, the engine. Up until 2030, we were thinking the business will be mainly focused on hybrid. Putting aside the deficit this time, we will continue our development of hybrid. The first is going to be launched next year, 2027. Performance cost included, I think, we are going to see a major advancement. The engine to be installed, well, this, it’s not a new framework. It’s going to be the conventional engine series, but the heat efficiency will be better. Well, hybrid, the area in which the engine is used is limited, so within that range. The heat efficiency is improved. That sort of development is underway.

You have a new system, and with the engine heat efficiency improvement, the fuel economy will be improved by around 10%. It’s not just cost. I think this will be a powerful tool and weapon for us. About the EV development cancellation and this huge massive deficit. Well, I repeat myself but we are facing a very harsh business environment. The automotive industry itself is entering into a major structural transformation period. We also have been prudent and been investing in EV with prudency. As of 2024 already, the zero series, the EV development, well, the dies were already ordered, and we were preparing at the beginning of 2025 to the extent where we could not go back.

The impact of the tariffs and the easing of the environmental restrictions and also the change in policy has had a major impact on our business. It was either cancel or sell, and we were following carefully our business environment. Ultimately, GHG regulation was to be abolished, and the EV market. Well, at this time, the EV market in the U.S. was thought to reach 15%. Last month it was 5.6 or 5.8%, so it was less than half of the originally anticipated size. Therefore, it was far below the planned unit sales that we had in mind. If we were to go ahead with this, we knew that in the future, we will generate loss.

As Honda Motor on the whole, we did not, even with those difficulties, have any deficit. We understood that we needed, as management, to decide to go back on a growth trajectory and post this massive loss to make that happen. Well, about this deficit, I take this very seriously as a management. Based on that, we have come up with that recovery plan that I’ve just explained. What I’ve explained today, we have to try to stop the bleeding as soon as possible and try to pave the way for future growth. Amidst uncertainty, we have to establish a structure where we can tolerate such changes. We quickly have to work on this, and I believe that that is the biggest responsibility that I currently have.

At this point in time, I would like to focus my attention and effort on this point. That’s all. Thank you.

Akira, MC, Corporate Communications, Honda Motor Co., Ltd.: Thank you. Next question please. From the left, the front table please. My name is Miura. I have a question about the financial results. Earlier you talked about EV deficits. In the specific terms what included according to your presentation in March you talked about your compensation for the suppliers and revisiting your development projects and so on. Do you have gaps of what we assess now and what you assessed at the time? Is it possible to complete all of those deficits put up by March 2027? Second question is about business updates. To Mr. Mibe. You talked about external resource utilization.

Since you became the president, you talked about going away from the all internalizing or internal-based resource strategy. When you say utilization of external resources, how would you explain the issues, especially as to the Honda’s policy for getting the internal resources only, for instance?

Masao Kawaguchi, Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, Honda Motor Co., Ltd.: Thank you for your question, Mr. Miura. For your question about our EV deficit. On March 12th, as we said before, we had 3 EV developments for the U.S. to be withdrawn, then the largest possible deficit to be JPY 2.5 trillion, as we said at the time. Out of those 2.5, we announced the one for March 26 in the past term. Idea was JPY 1.3 trillion to be recognized for March 26 as according to our announcement last month, in March.

Toshihiro Mibe, Director, President, and Representative Executive Officer, Honda Motor Co., Ltd.: Reality now is that for March 26 we are now finding out there are some to be putting up in the current fiscal year not the March 27. Some of those we were expecting to put up in March 27 is now brought forward to March 26. That means we have higher deficit for March 26. Out of the deficit for March 26 there are some which are assessed to be lower in terms of their value. Therefore we have those ups and down quite equally. Therefore in March 26 we are ending up with the JPY 1.3 trillion deficit recognized in March 26. That is starting point let’s say.

Masao Kawaguchi, Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, Honda Motor Co., Ltd.: In the announcement, of the financial results earlier, Mibe-san explained about a JPY 500 billion deficit, to be expected, now. One thing is that, originally, we were trying to recognize the amount. We actually recognized that, in the earlier, previous term. We at the same time, had the supplier negotiations and so on.

Toshihiro Mibe, Director, President, and Representative Executive Officer, Honda Motor Co., Ltd.: It’s already in the beginning, we couldn’t see how the outcome would be that time. Finally, we believe that we would be having JPY 500 billion that covers all that. JPY 1.3 trillion deficit is now putting up for March 2026. That’s impaired, and that’s it. The remainder is JPY 1.3 trillion, JPY 1.8 trillion and JPY 700 billion still remaining. A question may be, would that be impaired as much as that value, or would that be put up in March 2027 or when, and so on?

Actually, we have to let you know later on when all those things are sorted out and then, we are clear about those values and financial status. The external resource utilization and our Honda’s internal resource utilization. External resources, meaning our alliances and so on, which is one of the things I would think we would need, as we said before. We have to work on that. Of course, within Honda, there are of course, have a basic idea where we want to get our own sources for everything we could support.

In the businesses, like in China, where we have a struggle, we would have our Honda drawings for ICE, and we’re working on the cost reduction based on that drawing in China, utilizing our resources out there. We are trying to assess how much cost reduction we could achieve with that. We know how much we could reduce based on that. We could use a platform with a partner. We have a good understanding of how much we could reduce based on that, a platform with a partner. Now we recognize that we perceive is the standard today in the businesses.

As long as we are happy with those, we don’t have to stick to our principle of getting only Honda source the technology. Of course, if we are not winning, we have to work harder. We have to grab the technology and so forth that is ready that way to win. We already have the measures in place. Now we have to involve those in the field to fight further to win. Of course, depending on the regions, but we now are thinking about positive utilization of the external resources at different places.

In North America the question is could we use that standard from elsewhere in North America? That’s another question. We have to formulate the strategy for the suppliers and the supplier value chains and so on. We are working on that. We haven’t really touched upon specific strategy outside of China. We talked about India a bit today where the parts prices in India is formulated in a different way from that of China. Away from that we could try to find out and identify the quality standard that can be utilized in all different regions.

If that is acceptable for the cost perspective, of course we would take it and utilize that going forward. That is what we wanted to say. Thank you.

Akira, MC, Corporate Communications, Honda Motor Co., Ltd.: Next question, please. Please raise your hand. Right. The row that is furthest away, the person in the third row. I’m freelancer Watanabe. About the business update, I have two questions. About the domestic market, you say that you will launch new models more than the current unit sales. How many are you thinking of, and what specific measures do you have in mind? How are you planning to increase unit sales, is my first question. Also, the kei ratio is 43%, and the Japan average is 36%, so it’s above the average. The kei-centered sales approach, are you going to maintain this or are you going to reduce the portion of kei mini cars and are you going to introduce more the registered regular passenger cars?

I’d like to ask you about domestic sales and marketing.

Toshihiro Mibe, Director, President, and Representative Executive Officer, Honda Motor Co., Ltd.: Well, Kaihara will respond.

Noriya Kaihara, Director, Executive Vice President, and Representative Executive Officer, Honda Motor Co., Ltd.: Currently, as you say, in regards to Japan, the kei, the mini car ratio is high. Even compared to the Japanese average, we believe that we are high. This is because we have this strong model and the dealers are succeeding, and therefore, they’re relying on this single model. This time, in Japan, we want to try to expand our lineup, strengthen our lineup of registered cars and increase our presence in this category. For this, currently unit sales is low, but we want to introduce a model to boost this. We have a plan for that.

We are trying to establish a strong network, dealer network, and we want to rebuild or reorganize our dealer network. Well, I think through integration, we can strengthen our marketing capability and thereby have better touch, customer touch. We want to strengthen our digital sales and marketing too. On the EV front, already in the mini category, we have three EVs launched, and going forward, Insight will be coming up, and Super One too. For EV too, we are going to strengthen our lineup. Therefore, for the future EV Japanese market, we want to lay the groundwork so that in the future we’ll have EV and hybrid to support our presence in Japan.

About the kei mini car category, we will also strengthen our presence and add on to kei, the registered cars. With EV, we want to offer to as many customers to increase unit sales. That is all. Thank you.

Akira, MC, Corporate Communications, Honda Motor Co., Ltd.: Because of the interest of time, I could take only two, three questions for the rest. Thank you. From here, please. Second row from the left the front table, please. Yomiuri Shimbun, Okita. Thank you for your explanation today. Question one, about financial results, EV related losses. You said that JPY 1.3 trillion losses, and some of them have been brought forward to recognize. You talked about the compensation for the suppliers. I’d like to know what parts which parts are actually brought forward to recognize. Second question, hybrid vehicles are to be focused going forward. You of course had quite a bit of investment in EVs.

I wouldn’t say that you were behind. However, you had a different focus, I suppose, because other companies had many hybrid cars out, competitors did. As compared to the competitors, what is the Honda’s winning strength? What is your strength in this field with a hybrid?

Masao Kawaguchi, Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, Honda Motor Co., Ltd.: Thank you for your question. For EV related losses, some of them have been brought forward to recognize in the financial statements. Contents of that is development assets and write-off of the facilities and also additional costs associated with the impairments and so on. I can’t really say which part is really corresponding to the suppliers of compensation so on because we have the other party involved. Writing off the equipment facilities those are to be done according to the accounting standard. Therefore it would not really have a totally different kind of practice of recognizing them. It’s a standard way. Hybrid vehicle strength we have a long history of hybrid vehicles.

Toshihiro Mibe, Director, President, and Representative Executive Officer, Honda Motor Co., Ltd.: Three motor hybrid we used to have long ago, and we have the two motor hybrid that is more efficient now. Now we have a compact side, a midsize, and we have hybrid cars in those segments for the global markets. This time, 2029 or so, or late 2028 and so on, we are going to launch, offer, or launch the large size hybrid models. Several years ago, we said that we would strengthen the hybrid as well, not just EV, especially on the large size hybrids, which we didn’t have at the time. We started the development of that, and now we have a full-fledged effort on them, and we want to launch those models as soon as we can.

Now once it’s there we are having all sizes for all segments. You have to drive it to feel have a feel because there are different kind of hybrids I feel. We are really confident in our hybrid one. We have RS series you can enjoy the driving nicely. Also the ADAS is a good affinity to hybrid model because CPU SoC be driven with lots of power consumption impact. EVs and plug-in hybrid could be the mainstream for those CPU things. Some hybrids of course but we have a strength in the hybrid especially for the power generation plants we have a strength as well.

Akira, MC, Corporate Communications, Honda Motor Co., Ltd.: We can supply the power too without any problems. Therefore that could be the good strength to offer starting with the Vezel at 28. With that we can combine the next generation ADAS as well and we are quite able to do that. That’s the strength. We have absolute confidence in our hybrid models. We try to appeal our products so that our customers understand its appeal. Thank you very much. Thank you. I see a lot of hands but I’m sorry. The next person will be the last. Please raise your hand. The person in the middle, the third row with a white jacket. Magazine X Shindo. Well thank you for this opportunity.

Toshihiro Mibe, Director, President, and Representative Executive Officer, Honda Motor Co., Ltd.: It might be a tough question about Ozawa-san. As far as I know, be it the Nissan partnership or Sony, was playing a leading role. Mibe-san, I think, this the person that you mostly trusted. Aoyama-san also quit. Mibe-san only is staying in Honda. Now, you lost your two close aides, and yet can you carry out your Mibe reform? This is what I want to confirm with you. About the personal issues, I think, this has been announced. About Ozawa. Well, this change in our strategy over the past three years, this has been a very challenging reform. In addition, well, this was not mentioned today, but when it comes to our management and operation, DX, AI included, we have been having to do a massive reform.

In Honda, we had few people capable of doing so. Initially, I was taking the lead. I was the corporate reform leader. In carrying out this reform, I wanted to focus on this part. When it came to the digital and others, well, strategy-wise and also operation-wise, digital AI is something that we cannot avoid. To strengthen digital AI, Shikama, who has knowledge, is at the top of corporate planning. In addition to what was explained today, the company’s operation will also be changed. That is the reason why we have decided on this, made this HR decision. Ozawa will step down as following the shareholders’ meeting.

Akira, MC, Corporate Communications, Honda Motor Co., Ltd.: We have a lot of talent at Honda, and, with a new lineup, we would like to continue to strive. Thank you. Thank you very much. With this, we would like to conclude today’s meeting, the financial results and business update. Thank you for your attendance.