Honda Prologue And Acura Zdx Are Outselling Their General Motors Cousins

It's 1 of those things that sounds for illustration a half-baked joke you'd show astatine a car meet. General Motors spends billions processing an electrical conveyance platform, the Ultium architecture, that's expected to beryllium nan bedrock of its EV future. Then, successful a business woody that seemed for illustration a win-win, it lets Honda get nan fancy caller tech for a mates of SUVs.

What does Honda do? It proceeds to hit GM astatine trading its ain hardware — nary punchline here, conscionable nan bizarre reality of nan 2025 car market. The income numbers for nan first half of nan twelvemonth are in, and they overgarment a image that has to beryllium making folks successful Detroit sweat. Despite having astir 2 1000 less dealerships, Honda managed to move 16,317 Prologue EVs successful nan first half of this year. Meanwhile, Chevrolet's monolithic trader service sold 12,736 of nan Blazer EV, nan Ultium EV that's closest to nan Prologue successful size, value and features. On average, Honda sold much than 3 times arsenic galore Prologues arsenic Chevy sold Blazer EVs, per dealer.

But nan bruising doesn't extremity there. In nan premium lane, Acura moved 10,335 ZDXs, which is nan Prologue's fancier sibling. That's a 1000 much units than Cadillac sold of nan Lyriq, its likewise sized and priced offering, and Acura did truthful pinch conscionable 276 dealership stores to Cadillac's 589.

Now, GM does waste Ultium EVs of different sizes and value categories that are doing beautiful well. Chevy sold a whopping 27,749 of nan cheaper, smaller Equinox EV, and Cadillac recovered homes for 4,940 of its caller Optiq equivalent. Cadillac besides has the ample three-row Vistiq, of which 1,744 were moved successful Q2 (and only 1 successful Q1 erstwhile it first went connected sale), and it sold 3,766 Escalade IQs this twelvemonth truthful far. Of course, there's besides nan Chevy Silverado EV and GMC Sierra EV and Hummer EV trucks, which person each seen income increases this year.

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The concealed condiment to Honda's runaway occurrence isn't immoderate magical engineering tweak aliases a concealed handshake — it's acold difficult rate and elemental marketing. Take the "One Pay Lease" connected nan 2025 Honda Prologue. You could get a brand-new electrical SUV pinch a azygous upfront costs of $4,800 (in immoderate markets). That useful retired to an effective monthly costs of astir $200 complete nan lease, pinch nary monthly payments after. It's a woody truthful bully it sounds for illustration a typo, nan benignant of connection that makes you scan nan good people for a clause astir donating a kidney.

Acura, not to beryllium outdone, is throwing a genuinely obscene magnitude of money connected nan hood of nan ZDX, offering a staggering $30,650 successful lease rate successful immoderate states. This drops nan effective costs of the 500-horsepower premium EV to little than that of an entry-level Integra. Wild.

GM's offers, meanwhile, are a confusing messiness of conditional rebates and opaque math. As of this article, GM has nary lease inducement for nan Blazer EV. And, yes, we are specifically speaking to leasing. GM does person immoderate incentives, for illustration connected nan Blazer EV for 0% APR for however-many months. But, do you really want to bargain an EV alternatively of lease it?

Even if nan prices were identical, Honda whitethorn still beryllium winning. It comes down to 1 of nan astir baffling, customer-hostile decisions successful caller automotive history: GM's pivot distant from Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. In a move that still makes zero sense, personally, GM ripped these proven (and frankly expected) systems out of astir of its Ultium EVs, forcing buyers to usage its proprietary Google Built-in infotainment.

Honda shows basal communal consciousness by keeping wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto alongside nan Google Built-In connected their models. For a procreation of buyers whose full life exists connected their phone, GM's CarPlay purge isn't a insignificant annoyance; it could beryllium a deal-breaker, particularly erstwhile nan apples-to-apples rival hands nan characteristic complete for free.

Beyond that colossal own-goal, nan Prologue is conscionable a much Honda-like vehicle. It has beingness knobs for nan ambiance control. And erstwhile it comes to nan all-important scope question, independent tests by Car and Driver recovered nan AWD Prologue went 30 miles farther connected a complaint than nan balanced Blazer EV. Honda took GM's level and simply made it amended and much enticing to buyers, and it's now moving up nan scoreboard.