Honda is reportedly hitting the brakes on its massive plan to build an electric vehicle hub in Ontario, according to a new report from Nikkei Asia. The Japanese automaker is indefinitely suspending the $15 billion project cites the publication, which included both an EV assembly plant and a battery factory, as it pivots its North American focus toward hybrid vehicles instead.
The decision comes as the EV market in the U.S. faces a rough patch, with sales dropping 36% in the last quarter of 2025. At the same time, hybrids have become the new fan favourite, now making up nearly 20% of all new car sales. Changes in U.S. policy have also played a role; the scrapping of federal EV tax incentives last September added significant costs for buyers, making electric models a tougher sell.
“Obviously there’s challenges with the U.S. tariffs, unjustified tariffs in the auto sector,” said Prime Minister Mark Carney on Wednesday, without mentioning Honda.
Honda is already clearing the decks of its current electric lineup. Production of the Prologue EV is ending later this year, and the Acura ZDX has already been discontinued. This leaves the company with no fully electric models in the U.S. for now. To steady the ship, Honda is expected to book roughly $15.6 billion in losses this fiscal year related to these major strategy changes.
Instead of the new Canadian site, Honda will lean on its existing facilities in Ohio. Those lines have been updated to build gas, hybrid, and electric cars all in one place, giving the company more flexibility. Even the battery plant in Ohio, a joint venture with LG Energy Solution, is being repurposed to churn out batteries for hybrids and energy storage systems.
The Ontario factory was slated to make up to 240,000 cars per year and have a battery factory and was set to start up as soon as early 2028.
Honda Canada told the National Post, “The content of the article was not released by Honda, and we have nothing to report at this time.”
Want to see more of our stories on Google?
P.S. Want to keep this site truly independent? Support us by buying us a beer, treating us to a coffee, or shopping through Amazon here. Links in this post are affiliate links, so we earn a tiny commission at no charge to you. Thanks for supporting independent Canadian media!
