Acura Shifts Gears, Says Hybrids Will Join EVs in Electrification Push originally appeared on Autoblog.
Honda's luxury brand is adjusting its electrified game plan
According to new reports from Automotive News and The Drive, Honda's luxury arm, Acura, confirms that it will pivot from its prior commitments toward a lineup of electric vehicles (EVs). During an August 14 news conference with American Honda executives before events at Monterey Car Week, American Honda CEO Kazuhiro Takizawa told reporters it will add hybrids to its U.S. lineup to adapt to growing consumer preferences.
“Our speed towards electrification was much slower than we had expected, so we have to change our plan. We need to be very flexible,” said Takizawa. “Our initial plan was to go straight to electrification, but looking at the customer demands, it is not realistic.”
In addition, Katsushi Inoue, American Honda’s director and senior managing executive officer, noted that the automaker is aiming to increase hybrid production and sales to over 60% of its global sales. He added that it isn't entirely pulling out of the EV market but responding to consumer demand in its largest market outside Japan.
“We will maximize the production of ICE and hybrid models to meet the needs of our customers and to fuel investment in the technology,” Inoue said. “But we have not changed our commitment to electric vehicles, it’s just about adjusting the timing to match the needs of the customers.”
Acura previously said it would "skip" hybrids
The shift in the Acura brand's plans is a pivot from what it originally planned back in 2021. In a December 2021 Automotive News interview, Emile Korkor, Acura’s assistant vice president of national sales, proclaimed that it will take a bolder approach than the Honda brand regarding electrification; positioning the premium brand as an EV-centric brand.
"For Acura, we're going much faster than the Honda brand in terms of our transition to electric vehicles as a percentage of sales," Korkor said. "We're going to bypass hybrids altogether. So our shift is going very rapidly into BEV. That's our main focus."
"We're not just dipping our toe in the water with electric at Acura, we are jumping all in. And that's not just because we need to. It's because we want to. Acura is really focused on performance, and electrification is one of the greatest ways we can augment that performance."
However, in February this year, Mike Langel, Acura’s assistant vice president of national sales, hinted that the brand's plans may change as EV sales proved to be slower than expected.
“Our long-term plan is to sell all electric vehicles, but we are very flexible on what that path looks like,” he told AutoNews at the time. “It could definitely be a windy road, but the end goal remains the same. There’s still a big market and we’re introducing more models, but I wouldn’t commit to a number [of EVs by 2030]– we’re flexible with that.”
Acura says its new hybrid models will take some time
In response to a question from The Drive's Editor-In-Chief, Kyle Cheromcha, regarding adapting the technology from Honda's popular hybrids into Acura vehicles, American Honda CEO Kazuhiro Takizawa noted that it isn't as simple as lifting a Civic Hybrid's powertrain and dropping it into an Integra.
“It’s not that easy. When you change the powertrain, with crash tests and all those things we have to start from scratch. [Our engineers] say it’s quite difficult [Laughs]," Takizawa told The Drive.
"But of course, it’s not impossible, and we have that technology, so it’s just a matter of lead time and development of the models. To have a new vehicle, we usually need four years or more. [With] this lead time, we need to wait. Once we made our decision, it still takes several years. So it’s just a matter of time.”
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Final Thoughts
Acura is not a stranger to hybrid technology. As recently as 2020, it previously offered hybrid models like the RLX Sport Hybrid, MDX Sport Hybrid, and the second-generation NSX, which ended production in 2022. Given Honda's success in selling hybrid versions of popular models like the CR-V, Civic and Accord, it only feels natural that they would pursue such vehicles to keep the Acura brand competitive.
As a whole, Honda has been reevaluating its EV strategy due to several challenges, including high development costs, declining demand, and the effects of U.S. tariffs. Although the Honda Prologue and Acura ZDX have been selling, industry marketing data from Motor Intelligence cited by Automotive News shows that the automaker spent an average of over $12,000 on each Prologue and $21,000 on each ZDX sold from April to June, an endeavor that can prove costly if kept up.
Related: Acura RSX Prototype Debuts At Monterey Car Week To Preview Next Year's Performance SUV
Acura Shifts Gears, Says Hybrids Will Join EVs in Electrification Push first appeared on Autoblog on Aug 15, 2025
This story was originally reported by Autoblog on Aug 15, 2025, where it first appeared.
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