Honda could withdraw from European market as Mitsubishi did
- Honda entered the European market in the 60s, and the Japanese brand immediately stood out for its attractive and dynamic small cars. The biggest success of the 70s was undoubtedly the Civic (C-segment) which continued to sell well in Europe until the 1990s. The peak of Civic sales was reached in 1997 with a volume of 145,000 sales in the year.
- Then the rise of SUVs such as the CRV and HRV affected Civic sales. The Accord (D-segment) and Jazz (B-segment) sedans have attempted to represent the brand at both ends of the range, but with very relative success.
- Honda's sales peak in Europe was reached in 2007, with 335,000 units divided into 135,000 Civic, 80,000 CRV, 70,000 Jazz, 30,000 Accord, 13,000 FRV and 7,000 HRV. The following years were disastrous as Honda sales in Europe continued to decline, dropping to 150,000 units in 2011, representing a drop of 55% in four years. Between 2011 and 2019, sales fell a further 33,000 units to 117,000 units, representing a further drop of 22% in eight years.
- For the past ten years, Honda has more focused its effort on the Chinese market (1,585,000 sales in 2019 against 1,000,000 in 2015) and the American one (1,610,000 sales in 2019 against 1,370,000 in 2015) than the European market. The Civic and CRV have no specific bodies for Europe anymore. The two Honda plants located in Europe will close in 2021. Honda's sales in Europe in 2019 are now lower than those of Mitsubishi, which has just decided to withdraw from the European market. Honda could therefore follow Mitsubishi's path and withdraw from the European market.
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