Korean Media: Honda's Sales in China Halved in Just Five Years!

On May 25, South Korean media outlet Today Digital published an article stating that Honda’s cumulative sales in China have surpassed 20 million units. However, since 2021, sales in China have been declining sharply each year, with prospects looking increasingly bleak.

According to sales data released by Honda, a total of 122,470 vehicles were sold in the Chinese market from January to March this year. This figure represents a 22.4% decline compared to the same period last year.

Sales in March alone amounted to just 36,200 units, down 34.3% year-on-year.

In 2021, Honda sold 1.5615 million vehicles in China. The real downturn began in 2022, when sales dropped to 1.3731 million units. In 2023, sales fell further to 1.2342 million units; in 2024, they reached 852,300 units; and in 2025, they declined to 645,300 units—each year showing a continuous downward trend. In just five years, sales have been cut in half.

The decline in Honda’s sales is closely linked to the rapid growth of China’s domestic new energy vehicle (NEV) market. NEV sales in China surged from around 3.5 million units in 2021 to 6.5 million in 2022, rose to 9 million in 2023, reached 11 million in 2024, and soared to 12.4 million in 2025.

Experts generally believe that Honda’s weak sales performance stems from its failure to adapt to changes in the Chinese automotive market. While China’s auto market is rapidly shifting toward electrification, Honda has failed to keep pace with this transformation.

Honda’s March sales volume was comparable to that of China’s electric vehicle startup NIO, which sold 33,300 units, but significantly lagged behind Zhiyun Auto (50,000 units) and Li Auto (41,100 units). With the surge in popularity of electric vehicles and other new energy vehicles in China, a company with nearly 80 years of history now sells fewer vehicles than several emerging Chinese startups.

Honda is a global automaker that entered the Chinese market in 1998 through a joint venture with Guangzhou Automobile Group, and its cumulative sales in China have now exceeded 20 million units.

Original article: toutiao.com/article/1866147393427465/

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author.