30/11/2025

Contributing Editor Keshy Dhillon / keshy@piston.my Editorial

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SUNDAY | NOV 30, 2025

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This might look like a current Honda HRV, but underneath is something completely different which will reach markets in another year or two.

The Honda Super One Prototype has been spotted testing in Malaysia.

Underneath all the camouflage is a car that we suspect to be the Honda Civic, but it does not drive or sound like one.

Exciting times ahead

BY KESHY DHILLON

Honda’s upcoming models are all about efficiency and fun

ELECTRIC CARS, hybrids or plug-in hybrids? That seems to be the golden ques tion for all car makers these days, doesn’t it? And while some car makers have thrown their weight behind EV’s, some have adopted a wait and see approach. This cautious approach seems to have paid off as car makers who had initially announced an all-electric target by a certain year, are now back tracking and working on multiple powertrain options once again. “Power of choice”, some call it. Did we not have this choice before? One can’t help but wonder if these slogans are a cover up for obviously disastrous future planning. The cost of this backtrack has been monumental as well, with some European giants reporting losses in the billions of Euros. Japanese car makers like Honda though, have been more cautious. The wait and see approach has benefitted the company even

its future electric and hybrid models. SO, WHAT DO THEY HAVE IN STORE? New platforms that will bring back the joy of driving yet improve assembly time and cost. Honda has thrown out the rule book for platforms and has rethought how they should work. For years we have been told that body

Like Lionel Messi’s field observation skills, Honda too observes and then decides where to place itself to maximise the chance of creating an impact in the industry. Or in this matter, introduce the right technology that car buyers will appreciate the most. Honda’s cautious steps seems to have been the right move. But it does not mean that the company has shied away from development. Far from it in fact. The company has been quietly develop ing new tech in the background, and it will soon be ready to launch them all and claim its throne once again. I was recently in Japan with Honda and visited the Honda booth during the 2025 Japan Mobility Show and even listened to Honda’s vision of the future, delivered by non-other than Toshihiro Mibe, the President and CEO of Honda Motor Company Limited. After that, we visited Honda’s proving ground in Tochigi, where Honda presented

though their initial reluctance to adopt elec tric powertrains meant that environmental groups trained their crosshairs on the com pany. It was not only these groups though, even car fans and buyers shied away, saying that Honda’s slow development meant that the company was lost and thus finished. Even the seemingly unstoppable Chinese companies are now expanding beyond elec tric cars. BYD, the company that has cham pioned EV’s for years is now moving towards plug-in hybrids. BYD Malaysia recently previewed the Shark, a plug-in hybrid pick-up truck. Though it is unlikely to be launched here unless BYD locally assembles it, it indicate that the company is toying with the idea of introducing plug-in hybrid powertrains for the Malaysian market. What does all this mean for car buyers? Trust the company that seems to be taking it slow.

On display here is a Honda V6 engine that is much more efficient than ever before.