2024-01-09

Honda's New "H" Logo Design Explained: What's Old Is New Again?

Honda's New "H" Logo Design Explained: What's Old Is New Again?

Honda has plans for a new all-electric lineup to debut in 2026 with a retro-futuristic "H" badge on the nose.


Justin WestbrookWriter; Manufacturer - Photographer | Jan 9, 2024

 

We expected something major to show up after Honda announced earlier last year that it was ditching previous plans to develop affordable new electric vehicles for the North American market with General Motors on the back of the existing deal to co-produce the Honda Prologue and Acura ZDX all-electric SUVs on GM's Ultium EV platform. That "something major" showed up to 2024's CES with the debut of the new Honda 0 Series of electric cars, starting with sedan and van concept cars with something unfamiliar on the nose: a new "H-mark" badge, which should, well, mark a major shift for the Japanese automaker.

 

Honda says the new badge is coming to its future electric cars, but it's unclear if Honda is holding out on pinning the new H badge to the new 0 Series of EVs, or if it will show up on a future model year of the Prologue in the meantime. Honda's new 0 Series EVs are set to debut in 2026 in various global markets, said to include North America and the U.S.

 

At CES, the automaker showed off a sedan concept with gullwing doors that access both rows of seats it called a "saloon," and the "Space Hub" electric van showed off transparent interior panels, with both models promising advanced self-driving technology and autonomy-enhanced interior features like collapsable steering wheels.

 

 


The current Honda badge (pictured above) dates back to a 1981 redesign—it's gotten more color and 3D effect added to it since then, but the general shape and proportions have stayed the same for some four decades until now. The new "H" shape is very reminiscent of the original Honda badge, which had the top prongs stretched wider than the lower prongs of the letter in a wedge shape. Honda says this new design "symbolizes two outstretched hands."


 

For now, it's unclear if Honda's future EVs will get traditional "Type R" or other performance designations that, in modern times, have come with different badging that puts the Honda "H" on a red background, like the original brand logo on its first sports cars in the early 1960s. The new 0 Series of EVs will also seemingly get Honda's new typeface, which did debut with the Prologue SUV and is meant to represent "modern and clean design." The Prologue uses this new Honda font with the name spelled out in place of a traditional Honda "H" badge on its rear end (with a normal badge up front), for now.

 

source: https://www.motortrend.com/