Honda CEO Takeo Fukui said today that his company has been forced to cancel the next-generation NSX because of the global economic conditions. He made the announcement during a speech outlining the carmaker’s revised economic forecast.
The Nikkei news service also reported that the firm would not be bringing the Acura brand to Japan. ‘The situation is worsening by the day, and there is no prospect for recovery, is our understanding,’ Fukui told reporters.
The NSX was expected to be a V10 sports car and it is reported that the car was almost production-ready. The project had encountered a number of problems but these had been overcome and it was in the late stages of development. It lapped the Nurburgring in 7mins 31sec on its first attempt as a prototype and was expected to shake up the supercar market like it first did in the 90s.
The Honda boss had previously told Autocar at the end of last year that the new NSX is ‘necessary for Honda’. The company reportedly indicated its operating profits will be 180 billion yen ($2 billion), down 67% from the forecasted 550 billion yen.
Honda was recently forced to pull out of F1 to save money. The company has spent an estimated £300m on F1 each year and has decided it can no longer afford to be involved in the sport.
