2024 Volume 16 Issue 1 Pages 51-72
While Japanese automakers including Toyota and Honda are embroiled in the electric vehicle (EV) wars caused by the trend of CASE—namely connected cars (C), autonomous vehicles (A), share driving (S), and electric vehicles (E)—they have found themselves largely lagging behind forerunners such as Tesla and BYD. The causes of this delay in the case of Toyota were covered in Kawai (2022). This paper examines the causes of Honda’s delay, employing the framework of dynamic managerial capabilities (DMC) and progressing in the order of Phase 1 (until participation in the EV wars), Phase 2 (end of Phase 1 to launch of first EV), and Phase 3 (end of Phase 2 to present). A lack of DMC was discovered to be the major cause of Honda’s delay. Although Honda has launched an ambitious plan of investment to make up ground, the lack of DMC is thought to leave its prospects dim.
