---
title: "Honda's CEO Apologizes for Its First Annual Loss in Decades, and Keeps His Job"
description: "Honda chief executive Toshihiro Mibe opened the carmaker's annual meeting with an apology for a ¥423.9 billion ($2.7 billion) net loss — its first in decades, driven by a roughly $10 billion write-down on a too-fast EV pivot — then won re-election to the board despite a revolt by retired executives."
category: "Companies"
category_url: https://boursel.com/category/companies
author: "Marcus Feldman"
published: 2026-06-26T04:42:00.000Z
updated: 2026-06-26T04:42:00.000Z
canonical: https://boursel.com/article/honda-s-ceo-apologizes-for-its-first-annual-loss-in-decades-and-keeps-his-job
tags: ["honda", "automakers", "evs", "japan", "earnings"]
---
# Honda's CEO Apologizes for Its First Annual Loss in Decades, and Keeps His Job

Honda chief executive Toshihiro Mibe opened the carmaker's annual meeting with an apology for a ¥423.9 billion ($2.7 billion) net loss — its first in decades, driven by a roughly $10 billion write-down on a too-fast EV pivot — then won re-election to the board despite a revolt by retired executives.

Few corporate moments are as stark as a chief executive bowing in apology to shareholders. Honda's Toshihiro Mibe did exactly that — and then survived.

## The apology

At Honda's annual general meeting on June 26, Mibe apologized "for the significant concern and inconvenience caused by the net loss" in the fiscal year ended March 31, [Reuters reported](https://www.investing.com/news/stock-market-news/honda-ceo-apologises-for-companys-loss-wins-investor-backing-at-annual-meeting-4761982). Shareholders then approved his reappointment, along with the rest of the board — a vote that mattered, because Honda's own retired executives had spent months campaigning to push him out.

## The numbers

Honda reported a net loss of **¥423.9 billion (about $2.7 billion)** for the year, swinging from a ¥835.8 billion profit the year before — its first annual loss in decades, [per its SEC filing](https://www.stocktitan.net/sec-filings/HMC/6-k-honda-motor-co-ltd-current-report-foreign-issuer-3ad5d0a20675.html). The cause was an electric-vehicle strategy that proved too costly, too early: EV-related charges — impairments, disposals and provisions — totaled roughly **¥1.58 trillion (about $10 billion)**. Revenue barely moved, edging up to ¥21.8 trillion, which only underscored how much the write-downs drove the loss.

## The EV bet that backfired

Honda committed heavily to EVs after pledging in 2021 to phase out gasoline engines — then U.S. EV demand grew far slower than projected, Chinese rivals led by BYD undercut it in a key market, and policy shifted. This spring Honda canceled three North American EV models and shelved a planned Canadian plant, and the Sony-Honda "Afeela" venture pulled back. Mibe cut Honda's 2030 EV sales target from 30% to **20%** of vehicles and pivoted toward **hybrids**, targeting 15 new hybrid models by 2029. On top of that, U.S. auto tariffs — initially 25% on Japanese imports, later eased to 15% under a trade deal — are a fresh headwind; Honda has flagged a multi-hundred-billion-yen hit to operating profit.

## The revolt that failed

The losses emboldened a faction of retired Honda leaders who pressed Mibe to resign over the EV missteps and neglect of China; reports said 90-year-old former CEO Nobuhiko Kawamoto personally asked him to step down. Mibe declined, the board's nominating committee backed him, and he accepted a 30% pay cut for three months as a gesture of accountability. The episode also sits in the shadow of Honda's collapsed 2025 merger talks with Nissan, which fell apart over Honda's proposal to make Nissan a subsidiary.

## What it means

The vote hands Mibe — now also designated head of "business reform" — a mandate to execute a turnaround built on hybrids and cost discipline. Honda is guiding to a return to operating profit (around ¥500 billion) in the current year as EV charges clear. The broader lesson for the auto industry is sobering: Honda's loss is a case study in the cost of betting too hard, too soon on a full EV transition while demand, policy and competition all moved against it. Whether the hybrid pivot arrives fast enough to satisfy investors — and Honda's watchful alumni — is the open question.

## Sources

- [Honda CEO apologises for company's loss, wins investor backing at annual meeting](https://www.investing.com/news/stock-market-news/honda-ceo-apologises-for-companys-loss-wins-investor-backing-at-annual-meeting-4761982)
- [Honda posts first annual loss on EV-related charges (6-K filing)](https://www.stocktitan.net/sec-filings/HMC/6-k-honda-motor-co-ltd-current-report-foreign-issuer-3ad5d0a20675.html)