‘No humans on production floor’ – Honda CEO confesses about Chinese automakers

By Theodore Opara

Honda CEO Toshihiro Mibe’s February visit to a bustling electric vehicle plant in China left him deeply concerned.

Like other major automakers, Honda was forced to rapidly pivot in mid-2025 after an abrupt policy shift in the United States eliminated a longstanding electric vehicle tax credit.

American manufacturers Ford and General Motors both sustained multi-billion-dollar losses, while Honda’s losses topped $15.7 billion.

Late last year, Mibe acknowledged that American policy shifts had perhaps delayed the transition from internal combustion engines to EVs. But he added that the brand had a moral imperative to curb rising temperatures by phasing out fossil fuels.

Honda disclosed its first annual loss in early March, not long after Mibe’s visit to the Chinese EV manufacturing plant.

According to SlashGear, its speed and efficiency alarmed him.

“We have no chance against this,” Mibe said, per a March 31 Nikkei Asia article. “From parts procurement to logistics management, everything at the facility was automated, and there were no humans on the production floor.”

Vanguard News

The post ‘No humans on production floor’ – Honda CEO confesses about Chinese automakers appeared first on Vanguard News.