*

Now sees EVs accounting for 20%, not 30%, of sales by 2030

*

Cuts planned investment in electrification and software by

30%

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To launch 13 next-generation hybrid models in the four

years

from 2027

By Daniel Leussink

TOKYO, May 20 (Reuters) - Honda Motor ( HMC ) said on

Tuesday that it was scaling back its investment in electric

vehicles given slowing demand and would be focusing on hybrids,

now far more in favour, with a slew of revamped models.

Japan's second-biggest automaker after Toyota Motor ( TM )

also dropped a target for EV sales to account for 30% of its

sales by the 2030 financial year.

"It's really hard to read the market, but at the moment we

see EVs accounting for about a fifth by then," CEO Toshihiro

Mibe told a press conference.

Honda ( HMC ) has slashed its planned investment in electrification

and software by that year by 30% to 7 trillion yen ($48.4

billion).

It's one of a number of global car brands dialling back EV

investment due to the shift in demand in favour of hybrids and

as governments around the world ease timelines to meet emission

rules and EV sales targets.

U.S. President Donald Trump has, for example, revoked a

Biden administration executive order that sought to ensure all

of new vehicles sold in the United States by 2030 were electric.

Honda ( HMC ) plans to launch 13 next-generation hybrid models

globally in the four years from 2027. At the moment it has just

three hybrid models in the U.S. - the Civic, which comes in

hatchback and sedan versions, the Accord and the CR-V.

It will also develop a hybrid system for large-size models

that it plans to launch in the second half of the decade.

The automaker is aiming to sell 2.2 million to 2.3 million

hybrid vehicles by 2030, a huge jump from 868,000 sold last

year. That also compares with a total of 3.8 million vehicles

sold overall last year.

Earlier this month, Honda ( HMC ) announced it had put on hold for

about two years a C$15 billion ($10.7 billion) plan to build an

EV production base in Ontario, Canada, due to slowing demand for

electric cars.

Honda ( HMC ) said, however, that it still plans to have

battery-powered and fuel-cell vehicles make up all of its new

car sales by 2040.

Other automakers that have scaled back EV investment include

struggling rival Nissan ( NSANF ), which this month abandoned a

plan to build a $1.1 billion battery factory on Japan's

southwestern island of Kyushu just months after it had announced

the project.

Jaguar Land Rover has shelved plans to build electric

vehicles at parent company Tata Motor's upcoming $1

billion factory in southern India, sources have said.

($1 = 144.7 yen)