Takanobu Ito revives the idea of the electric car's potential

Until just over a year ago, Honda was firmly convinced that the electric car had no future and would be impractical. Now, however, the company has radically changed its mind, and its direction will in fact be geared towards new electric cars, according to Takanobu Ito.

The recently appointed new president of Honda succeeds Takeo Fukui, who stepped down from his post last year, and who was not at all keen on the whole electric car frenzy. For Fukui, the future would bring cars powered by fuel cells, of which the Honda FCX Clarity is an example.

But now Takanobu Ito is in charge at Honda, and for Honda the market is sending signals that point to the exact opposite of what Fukui said. The electric car will be given much more consideration by Honda, and looking ahead, the brand will be presenting a completely new electric model at the Los Angeles show, alongside a plug-in hybrid.

Meanwhile, its rivals Nissan and Toyota have advanced considerably. Did Honda pay the price for the additional sales opportunities it lost by not going fully into developing electric cars?

Source | Reuters