Honda just made a dramatic move that signals how seriously the auto industry is reckoning with the EV slowdown. The company announced the next-generation Acura RDX will launch as a two-motor hybrid SUV, marking a major strategy shift. Meanwhile, production of the current RDX—which has sold nearly 740,000 units since 2018—ends this year. The move shows Honda betting big on hybrids over pure electric vehicles as federal incentives cool and customer demand shifts.
Honda just confirmed what the entire auto industry's been whispering about in boardrooms for months. The next-generation Acura RDX is coming as a two-motor hybrid, marking a seismic shift in the company's EV-first ambitions. The current RDX, which has been a workhorse for Honda since its 2018 debut and racked up nearly 740,000 sales in the US, will stop production this year. Honda wouldn't commit to a timeline for the hybrid replacement, leaving a deliberate gap in the lineup that signals the company's willingness to sacrifice short-term revenue for a more measured long-term strategy.
This isn't just a product shuffle. It's Honda's response to the collapsing economics of electric vehicles. As EV tax credits expired and federal policy shifted under the new administration, automakers across the globe watched their electric vehicle demand dry up faster than morning dew. Acura's VP Lance Woelfer explained that the pivot reflects customer demand for "hybrids and gas-powered vehicles rather than structuring the business solely around EV mandates." Translation: the market has spoken, and it wants hybrids.
But Honda isn't entirely abandoning the EV dream—it's just recalibrating. Production of the all-electric Acura RSX remains on track for the second half of 2026, with the car slated to be built at Honda's newly acquired Ohio factory. The company recently bought out LG Energy's stake in the facility to gain full control, then invested heavily in retooling it to support gas, hybrid, and EV production on the same line—a flexibility play for uncertain times.
