From Watts Up With That?

From Legal Insurrection

Honda cuts production of 3 EVs slated for the U.S. market and other car manufacturers adjust their production to the new market realities.

Posted by Leslie Eastman 

Honda is only one of many companies that have altered EV production plans. Kia, Nissan, VW, and Tesla have cut the production of certain models.

Torque News was one of the first outlets to shout out to the ethers that the Model S and X stopped selling a long time ago. Elon Musk recently confirmed that the models are now officially dead and that after Q2 ends, no more will be produced. Many anti-Musk EV fans have pretended that this was a signal of Tesla “leaving the auto business.”

That’s not our reading of a brand officially ending a pair of models that nobody had bought in years. Presently, Tesla has 62% U.S.-market EV market share, way up from one year ago. As the EV market dries up, the Model Y and Model 3 remain the only two successful EV models – ever – in the U.S. marketplace.

The American auto giants are aggressively adapting to new market conditions.

General Motors (GM) and Ford Motor are cutting billions in fixed costs, including laying off thousands of workers, and Chrysler parent Stellantis is taking even more drastic measures to reduce spending. According to Reuters, Ford Motor is taking a $19.5 billion write-down and is removing several electric-vehicle (EV) models from its line-up, as the auto industry retreats from battery-powered models in response to weakened EV demand and the Trump administration’s policies.

GM and Stellantis have already shifted more of their production to combustion engine vehicles, also taking financial hits. GM wrote down $1.6 billion in EV assets and indicated that more write-downs are expected. Due to the push for electric vehicles by Western governments, automakers overestimated their demand and are now making a detour to correct the costly error.

When the government finally stops picking winners and losers, reality reasserts itself with remarkable clarity.

The EV market’s collapse following the removal of federal subsidies isn’t proof of market failure but proof that market forces work exactly as they should. Auto manufacturers are now responding to genuine consumer preferences rather than activist fantasies about “carbon-free futures” held together by taxpayer dollars.

For too long, corporate strategies were warped by the delusions of green ideologues who neither understand basic economics nor the fundamental science behind energy production. Once the mandates and incentives were stripped away, demand recalibrated to match affordability, reliability, and everyday practicality, which are values far more enduring than climate cult slogans.

I have to wonder how many real opportunities for innovation were missed by car manufacturers who were forced to pander to the nonsense.