How quickly things can change in just about seven months. At the Japan Mobility Show in Tokyo in October last year, Honda was extremely bullish about its future, with CEO Toshihiro Mibe outlining the company’s ambitious plans in India, the rest of the world, and in Formula 1. If you are a fan of F1 like me, you must have seen the ongoing disaster that has marked Honda’s new partnership with Aston Martin. Not all Honda’s fault though. According to F1 insiders, poor team management by their chassis partner Aston Martin has a healthy share of the blame as well. But this is not a good look for the Japanese carmaker by any stretch. And then there were Honda’s plans for the world. In Tokyo, I got up close and personal with the Honda Series 0, a SUV and a Sedan featuring a radical new design language both outside and inside. These were going to be Honda’s flagship products across North America, Europe, and China. However, in March, Honda announced that they were pulling the plug on the Series 0 electric vehicles. The company declared its first annual loss in 70 years, a huge hit of $2.7 billion. Global tariff wars and shifting consumer preferences, particularly in the lucrative North American market, has taken a toll on the electric vehicle market. To be fair, Honda is not alone in this write-down of electric vehicle investment as other carmakers too struggle declaring massive losses amid competition from China and global tariff wars. Global carmaker Stellantis (owner of Citroen and Jeep, among other brands) declared a truly terrifying loss of $26.3 billion for 2025 and they’ve recently announced that they’ll co-develop the next Jeep for India with Tata, but that is another story. Honda, on the other hand, doubled down on India.