Honda Exports China-Made EVs to Japan for the First Time

On April 17, 2024, Honda launched its all-new battery-electric vehicle, the Insight, in Japan. The model is based on the China-produced e:NS2 and is manufactured in China—marking the first time Honda has sold a self-branded vehicle made in a Chinese factory in its home Japanese market. The official Japanese price for the new Insight is ¥5.5 million (approximately USD 34,500). After applying Japan’s maximum government EV subsidy of ¥1.3 million, the effective purchase price drops to around ¥4.2 million. The initial release is limited to 3,000 units. The vehicle offers a maximum range of 535 kilometers on a single charge and supports fast charging, enabling it to recharge from a low state of charge to 80% in about 40 minutes. To suit the Japanese market, the car has been converted to right-hand drive and features localized optimizations to its charging system and equipment specifications. Honda emphasized that the model adheres to the company’s unified global quality standards. The Insight nameplate was previously used for Honda’s early hybrid models—the first generation debuted in 1999, and the third-generation sedan launched in 2018 before being discontinued in 2022. This revival marks a significant shift: the product has transitioned from a hybrid sedan to a fully electric vehicle, and production has moved from Japan to China. Currently, Honda’s EV lineup in Japan consists mainly of the microcars N-ONE e: and N-VAN e:. The earlier Honda e was withdrawn from the market in 2024 due to insufficient range. The new Insight fills a critical gap in Honda’s Japanese EV portfolio by offering a mainstream passenger car with over 300 kilometers of range. This move breaks with the long-standing practice among Japanese automakers of prioritizing domestic production for the home market. In recent years, Honda’s joint-venture plants in China have faced declining sales and underutilized capacity. Exporting EVs to Japan helps improve capacity utilization and share development and production costs. Honda stated it will evaluate market response to determine whether to expand this model further and potentially introduce more overseas-produced vehicles into the Japanese market in the future.