El fabricante japonés Honda Motor Co. anunció la cancelación de tres modelos eléctricos que serían comercializados en Estados Unidos y la aplicación de un ajuste contable por USD 15.700 millones en su negocio global de electrificación. La medida fue comunicada el 12 de marzo y afecta tanto a la empresa como a la industria automotriz internacional, en un contexto de disminución de ventas de autos eléctricos y una competencia global creciente, según informó Reuters.

De acuerdo con la agencia, Honda explicó que la reestructuración obedece a la menor demanda de vehículos eléctricos en el mercado estadounidense. La compañía puntualizó que parte del ajuste financiero deriva de la depreciación de activos en China y la compensación a proveedores por los modelos cancelados. Se fusionan aquí los motivos y consecuencias: la magnitud del ajuste representa la mayor pérdida anual de la compañía en casi siete décadas, una situación relevante porque desde hace más de medio siglo la empresa no reportaba un resultado negativo de semejante escala, según datos recogidos por Fox Business y el portal especializado MotorBiscuit. El cambio de estrategia ocurre tras una baja en las ventas globales de eléctricos, la reducción de incentivos fiscales en Estados Unidos y el avance de fabricantes chinos con ciclos de desarrollo más rápidos y una inversión considerable en tecnología.

En los últimos años, Honda había presentado su línea Honda 0 Series, que incluía los modelos Saloon, SUV y Acura RSX. Todos ellos iban a fabricarse y venderse en Norteamérica a partir de 2024, anuncio realizado en la feria CES de Las Vegas en enero de ese año.

La cancelación de los modelos eléctricos Saloon, SUV y Acura RSX responde a factores económicos y de mercado. Según el comunicado oficial de Honda, la marca decidió retirar estos lanzamientos ante “la menor demanda de vehículos eléctricos en Estados Unidos y la necesidad de ajustar la estrategia según la rentabilidad y tendencias del mercado”.

La empresa también citó la presión competitiva de fabricantes chinos que, con ciclos de innovación más cortos y una inversión considerable en software y asistentes de conducción, han creado “productos con mejor relación valor-precio”, lo que afectó la competitividad de Honda en Asia y en otros mercados globales.

El ajuste anunciado es de 2,5 billones de yenes (USD 15.700 millones). Según Reuters, este monto incluye la depreciación de activos en China y los costos asociados a la cancelación de contratos con proveedores norteamericanos. Honda prevé que esta decisión le genere su primera pérdida neta anual desde 1955.

Un portavoz de la automotriz declaró a Fox Business que “la mayor parte de los costos se destinará a compensaciones para proveedores y reducción de inventarios asociados a los modelos cancelados”. La compañía también reconoció no haber alcanzado la competitividad de las empresas chinas, orientadas a la innovación rápida y la tecnología de asistencia a la conducción.

Para 2025, Honda reportó que los eléctricos representaron sólo el 2,5% de sus ventas globales, con 84.000 unidades sobre un total de 3,4 millones de vehículos, según cifras citadas por el portal especializado MotorBiscuit. En China, la empresa vendió 17.000 eléctricos, lo que también representa el 2,5% de su volumen en ese país y apenas una quinta parte de sus ventas globales de eléctricos.

De acuerdo con la consultora sectorial TrustFinance, la demanda de autos eléctricos en Estados Unidos disminuyó en los últimos dos años, mientras que las ventas de híbridos muestran crecimiento sostenido. Las fuentes consultadas atribuyen este fenómeno a la reversión de incentivos fiscales federales para la compra de eléctricos, impulsada por el gobierno de Estados Unidos, lo que encareció el acceso a estos vehículos y afectó la viabilidad de nuevos lanzamientos.

La cancelación afecta estos modelos:

• Honda 0 Series Saloon
• Honda 0 Series SUV
• Acura RSX

Estos vehículos fueron presentados en la feria CES de Las Vegas en enero de 2024 y estaban previstos como los primeros eléctricos de la nueva generación de la marca para el mercado norteamericano, según lo comunicado por Honda y reportado por Fox Business.

La política de incentivos fiscales federales para la compra de vehículos eléctricos en Estados Unidos experimentó importantes modificaciones. Según Fox Business, la eliminación de créditos fiscales para algunos modelos eléctricos elevó los costos para los consumidores, repercutiendo en la demanda y la rentabilidad proyectada para fabricantes como Honda.

Representantes de la automotriz señalaron a Reuters: “La retirada de estímulos fiscales redujo la competitividad de la oferta eléctrica en el país”. Además, existe una preferencia creciente por los híbridos, que ofrecen mayor autonomía y menores costos de uso.

Para los consumidores estadounidenses, la cancelación implica que Honda no ofrecerá, en el corto plazo, los eléctricos anunciados para la región; la gama de híbridos será ampliada y actualizada. Los proveedores vinculados a estos proyectos recibirán compensaciones, tal como se indicó en el comunicado oficial de la empresa.

La producción de eléctricos para otros mercados no fue descartada. Honda aclaró que evaluará cada caso según la rentabilidad y el contexto local y anunció: “La introducción de nuevos modelos eléctricos se analizará con flexibilidad, monitoreando la rentabilidad y tendencias del mercado”.

La nueva estrategia de Honda pone el foco en el desarrollo y comercialización de vehículos híbridos en Estados Unidos, mientras reorganiza su portafolio eléctrico a nivel global. La automotriz busca, además, fortalecer su presencia en India y mejorar la competitividad de su oferta internacional.

La empresa anticipó en su comunicado que presentará detalles de su plan estratégico para el negocio automotor en una conferencia prevista para mayo de 2026.

La competencia en China, el mayor mercado automotor del mundo, representa un desafío para Honda por el auge de fabricantes locales que priorizan ciclos de desarrollo ágiles y tecnologías avanzadas de software. Las ventas de eléctricos de Honda en China constituyeron sólo una fracción de su volumen total, y la compañía admitió su dificultad para igualar la relación valor-precio de sus competidores, según el informe oficial.

La estrategia incluye la depreciación de activos y una adaptación de la oferta al mercado local, enfatizando el desarrollo de híbridos y modelos más accesibles, conforme detalló Reuters.

Honda informó que presentará una actualización de su plan automotor durante la conferencia de mayo. El sector se mantiene atento a nuevas definiciones sobre próximos lanzamientos y a cómo la marca responderá a la evolución de la demanda global de eléctricos, las fluctuaciones regulatorias y la competencia internacional, según Fox Business y Reuters.

A growing number of U.S. allies are declining to take part in military efforts to secure the Strait of Hormuz, despite mounting pressure from Washington.

From Europe to the Indo-Pacific, governments are signaling reluctance to be drawn into direct military action, instead emphasizing diplomacy, legal constraints or limited defensive contributions.

Countries declining military involvement in reopening the Strait of Hormuz

France

France has ruled out any military role in securing the Strait of Hormuz, stressing a diplomatic approach. In an interview with FRANCE 24 last week, Armed Forces Minister Catherine Vautrin said Paris is «not participating in this war.» 

«At this point, there is no question of sending any vessels to the Strait of Hormuz,» she explained. Vautrin also questioned whether Washington and Jerusalem share the same end goals in the conflict with Iran.

President Donald Trump, however, suggested Monday he expects support from French President Emmanuel Macron.

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«I think he’s going to help. I mean, I’ll let you know. I spoke to him yesterday. I don’t do a hard sell on them because my attitude is we don’t need anybody. We’re the strongest nation in the world. We have the strongest military by far in the world. We don’t need them,» Trump said at the White House. «But, it’s interesting. I’m almost doing it in some cases, not because we need them, but because I want to find out how they react.»

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Germany

Germany has rejected military involvement, with Chancellor Friedrich Merz stating the conflict falls outside NATO’s scope. «We will not participate in ensuring freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz by military means. The war in the Middle East is not a matter for NATO,» he said in a post on X. «Therefore, Germany will also not become involved militarily.»

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz arrives at the White House on June 5, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Australia

Australia has declined to send ships to the strait despite U.S. calls for support. In an interview on ABC Radio National on Monday, Catherine King, minister for infrastructure, transport, regional development and local government, said, «We won’t be sending a ship to the Strait of Hormuz. We know how incredibly important that is, but that’s not something that we’ve been asked or that we’re contributing to.»

She noted Australia’s current contribution is limited to support in the United Arab Emirates, including providing aircraft to assist with defense given the number of Australians in the country.

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Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government Catherine King (L) shakes hands with Governor-General Sam Mostyn (R) during a swearing-in ceremony at Government House in Canberra, Australia, on May 13, 2025. (Hilary Wardhaugh/Getty Images)

Ireland

Ireland has ruled out participation in any EU naval mission to reopen the strategic waterway. Irish Prime Minister (Taoiseach) Micheál Martin told reporters ahead of his meeting with Trump, «We don’t have that offensive military capacity in any shape or form, so obviously it’s not something that’s on our agenda,» according to the Irish Examiner. «The world is in a very challenging situation and no one likes war. We certainly don’t as a country, and we want a specific resolution.»

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Spain

Spain has rejected any involvement in a Hormuz mission and called for an end to the war. 

Defense Minister Margarita Robles said, «We are on a defense and security mission in Cyprus and at this moment Spain is not considering any mission in Hormuz. What we are considering is the demand that the war end,» according to Spanish newspaper La Razón.

She described the conflict as an «illegal war that is causing many deaths.» 

Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares similarly argued to end the «spiral of violence» and «this escalation that does not have clear objectives.» 

Spanish Defense Minister Margarita Robles (L) and Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares (R) have rejected any military involvement in reopening the Strait of Hormuz. (Dursun Aydemir/Anadolu via Getty Images; Matias Chiofalo/Europa Press via Getty Images)

Countries signaling caution or limited involvement

United Kingdom

The U.K. has stopped short of committing to direct military action while emphasizing coordination with international partners. In a press conference on Monday, Prime Minister Keir Starmer said, «We will not be drawn into the wider war.» 

He called on allies and other European countries to «bring together a viable collective plan that can restore freedom of navigation in the region as quickly as possible.»

Keir Stamer, U.K. prime minister, speaks during a news conference providing an update on the situation in the Middle East, at Downing Street in London, U.K., on Thursday, March 5, 2026. (Tolga Akmen/EPA/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Japan

Japan is holding off on any deployment of naval escorts to the Middle East, citing legal constraints. Speaking in parliament during an Upper House Budget Committee meeting, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said, «No decision has been made whatsoever regarding the dispatch of escort vessels,» according to The Japan Times. «We are currently examining what Japan can do independently and what is possible within the legal framework.»

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Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi answers questions at a budget committee session of the House of Councillors in Parliament in Tokyo on March 16, 2026. (Kazuhiro Nogi/AFP via Getty Images)

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«Legally speaking, this is very difficult,» Takaichi added. «We are carefully examining what can be done within the scope of current laws and what is the best course of action at this time. At the same time, we are continuing to engage with Iran to help de-escalate the situation while also exchanging information with various countries.»

FIRST ON FOX: Internal Department of Justice emails obtained by Fox News Digital show prosecutors working for special counsel Jack Smith sought phone records in 2023 for a wide-ranging group of Republican lawmakers, including newly revealed names such as a current Trump administration official.

The email exchanges between prosecutors beginning Jan. 9, 2023, show Smith’s team mapped out a web of House and Senate lawmakers who interacted with key people in Smith’s probe into the 2020 election, including figures like President Donald Trump’s former chief of staff Mark Meadows and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who led many of Trump’s unsuccessful legal challenges to the election results.

New names within the emails obtained by Fox News Digital include Rep. Brian Babin (R-Texas), Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) and then-Rep. Lee Zeldin, who now leads the Environmental Protection Agency.

«I’d like to seek [the Public Integrity Section’s] concurrence to get phone tolls for several MOCs who had contact with pertinent parties in our investigation,» wrote former DOJ lawyer Timothy Duree. «I’ll keep the timeframe tight—probably October 1, 2020, to January 31, 2021.»

The emails come as part of Smith’s investigation and prosecution of Trump over the 2020 election, which initially began as an FBI probe called Arctic Frost. Ongoing House and Senate Judiciary Committee investigations have revealed through various public disclosures that the Biden DOJ targeted a large web of Republican people and entities with subpoenas during the probe, but the lawmakers’ records requests have become a top source of scrutiny.

JACK SMITH DEFENDS SUBPOENAING REPUBLICAN SENATORS’ PHONE RECORDS: ‘ENTIRELY PROPER’

Duree produced 16 names and said he wanted to discuss whether to «subpoena these all at once.» The list included Babin and Biggs and now former Reps. Mo Brooks, Matt Gaetz, Paul Gosar, Louie Gohmert, Zeldin and Jody Hice. The list also included Gohmert’s chief of staff Connie Hair, and seven senators whose names were previously revealed through public disclosures, such as Sens. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn.

Public disclosures previously showed that some of the 16 members’ phone records were indeed subpoenaed, but the new emails with new names, including Babin, Biggs and Zeldin, do not make clear if Smith ultimately executed subpoenas for their phone records. The phone records, also known as toll records, would have included dates, times and phone numbers but not the content of calls and messages.

Raymond Hulser, a prosecutor on Smith’s team, responded at one point in the January 2023 email chain by acknowledging the scale of the subpoena request.

«And please there’s no hurry this morning, [Duree]» Hulser wrote. «It just occurred to me that before we tell Main we are going to fire off subpoenas for so many members tolls I should make sure Jack’s aware.»

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Smith, who has since testified to the House Judiciary Committee about his work, has stood by the subpoenas, saying they were «entirely proper» and followed DOJ protocol. The Republicans who were targeted have, however, condemned the subpoenas as egregious violations of the Constitution’s speech or debate clause, which gives Congress members an added layer of immunity from investigations.

US Senator Chuck Grassley announces an FBI whistleblower says the FBI during the Arctic Frost investigation had subpoenaed the records of Republican elected officials in Congress, during a press conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, Oct. 6, 2025. (SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)

In addition to members of Congress, public disclosures by the congressional committees revealed that Smith targeted hundreds of Republican-affiliated people and entities as he pursued charges against Trump. Smith eventually brought four criminal charges against the then-Republican presidential candidate alleging he illegally attempted to overturn the 2020 election results but dropped the case after Trump won the 2024 election, citing a DOJ policy against prosecuting sitting presidents.

In another email from the January 2023 email chain, Hulser directed Duree to check the Jan. 6 Committee’s report for members who interacted with Trump and Giuliani on Jan. 6, the day of the U.S. Capitol breach, underscoring how Smith’s prosecutors used the investigative work of the committee to help with their probe. Republicans have widely dismissed the since-disbanded Jan. 6 panel as hyper-partisan as it comprised seven Democrats and two vocally anti-Trump Republicans.

Hulser later said Smith wanted to «narrow» down the list of 16, leading Duree to provide a bolded list of names «we should get in the first round.»

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No. 1 on the list, for instance, read «Brian Babin (texts with Meadows; calls with Chip Roy, Perry, Ratcliffe, and Meadows).» Other names noted on the list followed a similar structure. Roy and Perry were known targets in Smith’s probe and previously revealed that they had their records subpoenaed by the special counsel’s team.

Fox News Digital reached out to a Smith representative for comment, as well as the current House lawmakers mentioned in the emails and Zeldin’s office.