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Petrol engines will still play a crucial role in Honda's future automotive vision, and will thus continue to be developed and refined.
Honda will continue to design, develop, and refine its internal combustion engines (ICE) over the next few decades as it sees petrol powertrains still playing a pivotal role in carbon neutrality.
Speaking to Drive at the 2025 Tokyo motor show, Honda Australia President and CEO Jay Joseph confirmed the Japanese brand will continue to pour resources into petrol powertrains, despite the market shifting towards electric vehicles (EVs).
“We’ve not given up on the internal combustion engine yet,” Joseph said.
“We’re the biggest and largest producer of internal combustion engines in the world, and the biggest variety of them, they’re not done yet, but they will have to become sustainable.”
Honda not only produces internal combustion powertrains for its four-wheeled vehicles, but also across its motorcycle division, all-terrain vehicles (ATVs), and miscellaneous power equipment business including lawn mowers, boat motors, and portable generators.
While many car brands, like Alfa Romeo and Volvo, committed to selling only electric vehicles (EVs) by a certain time, each have subsequently walked back their ambitions in the face of plateauing electric car interest.
Honda, however, remains committed to achieving carbon neutrality by 2050 with a mix of EVs and hybrids – backed by petrol power that necessitate the need for further development.
To this end, the brand has a new-generation of EVs in development known as the 0 Series, while hybrids will continue to be underpinned by engines that currently range in size up to 3.5 litres.
And while a petrol-burning engine that produces emissions might be counter to becoming carbon neutral, Joseph said there are solutions being worked on to counter the environmental impact.
“We are continuing to develop internal combustion engines, and there are a variety of reasons for that,” Joseph said.
“It’s important to remember that our goal is not electrifying our powertrains, our goal is achieving carbon neutrality and not contributing to climate change.
“If that’s our goal, the most viable near-term pathway is electrification, but it isn’t the only pathway.
“If our goal is net-zero carbon neutrality, there are many things we can do – one of those things would be the use of synthetic e-fuels … [and] carbon-capture technology.
“Battery electric vehicles make a lot of sense, in a lot of places, especially where there is adequate charging infrastructure.
“Hydrogen fuel cells make sense in some place where there is, or will be, adequate hydrogen fuelling infrastructure.
“The achievement of carbon neutrality will be asymmetric in time and geography; there will be different solutions and we’re continuing to develop new ones.”
Tung Nguyen has been in the automotive journalism industry for over a decade, cutting his teeth at various publications before finding himself at Drive in 2024. With experience in news, feature, review, and advice writing, as well as video presentation skills, Tung is a do-it-all content creator. Tung’s love of cars first started as a child watching Transformers on Saturday mornings, as well as countless hours on PlayStation’s Gran Turismo, meaning his dream car is a Nissan GT-R, with a Liberty Walk widebody kit, of course.
