Honda revealed a new logo today, and it looks a lot like one from decades ago. The new “H” mark removes the square frame that has surrounded the logo for the last 43 years. The framed H was introduced in 1981, but prior to that Honda used a few different versions of the un-framed H with legs angled outward at the top. The new logo, revealed at CES in Las Vegas, is very similar to that.
The logo revealed today (above) looks almost identical to the one that appeared on the Honda N-series. The N600 was the first Honda automobile to be sold in the US. Honda says that it will use the new logo on its next-generation of electric vehicles, and that the branches of the H are supposed to evoke outstretched arms.
The new logo debuts on a pair of new electric vehicle concepts that are part of what Honda calls the 0 Series. The 0 Series Saloon looks like something out of a sci-fi cityscape designed by Syd Mead (who once illustrated a series of Honda ads). The 0 Series Space Hub looks like a similarly futuristic van. Honda says rather than the “thick” and “heavy” designs that have prevailed in the new wave of electric vehicles, the 0 Series will prioritize “thin” and “light” design.
There is perhaps a reason Honda has decided to use the original H logo. Part of its objective is “realizing sporty driving and electricity efficiency performance that defy the established beliefs people have about EVs through Honda original technologies created by going back to the starting point of Honda as an automaker.” Essentially, they want to develop EVs with a clean slate so that they can embody some of Honda’s core principles of minimalist design.
The statement above reminds us of the “man maximum, machine minimum” ethos of the EA Civic. Low floorpans has always been another hallmark of Honda packaging, and Honda wants to produce battery packs that don’t intrude into the cabin as much as regular EV power cells. We have yet to see a truly sporty — meaning fun-to-drive, not just quick to accelerate — EV. Perhaps Honda will come up with the winning formula. It’ll take a lot more than a logo, but thinking about Hondas of old is a good place to start.
Additional Images:
Images courtesy of Honda.
I love it, looks and fits great with those cars. Plus I just like old cars so the old logo look is bonus points in my book
I hope automotive logos will decrease in size one day. They have just gotten so big over the years, maybe they need to proportionally increase with respect to the grille size. I was looking at my Honda logo on my old Prelude and comparing it to the Acura log on my friend’s 2018 RDX, literally a shield.
That Honda Saloon future car looks pretty cool, except that the front opening makes it look like a catfish with it’s mouth opened.
As long as many of these companies are using the front emblem to ‘receive’ the rays it sends out and/or ‘hide’ the tech for their radar cruise, emergency braking, etc. systems, unfortunately, I don’t see this trend reversing any day soon 🙁
So the future is here then – you have to be a yuppy with plenty of money (obviously, because all you have to do all day is to stare into space), not a speck of dirt in sight, only travel around in the dark – or at least only under a UV lamp – and God forbid you actually smile… that’s definitely a no-no. The car ads on TV are becoming less about real people and more about what the sales execs want you to believe is “normal”. A fantasy World indeed.
If they produce those sorts of concept cars, it might be time to resurrect the name “Guppy”.
Hehe – Guppy Yuppy Honda…. LOL
Honda – you are in dire danger of losing your way.
They lost their way long ago. They died with the man himself. Honda sometimes excel when motivated by sentimentality (S2000, type Rs)
Yes, a few high points since his passing but as someone famous once said: even a blind pig finds an acorn now and then.
I know those N/Z600’s. Intimately…….
I enjoy designing logos and I have mixed feelings about the new Honda one. It was perhaps a necessary futuristic change in some ways but it also has started to resemble the modern trend of simplifying logos, often too much in my opinion (looking at you, Kia).
Concerning the concept vehicles, I commend Honda for taking a different approach to the development of EVs. A couple of days before the reveal, I was telling a friend that with Honda taking their time getting into the EV market I had hope that they were going to do it the right way, and it seems they actually might have. “Thin, light, and wise” sounds slightly eccentric, but it seems to me that it is a much better execution of battery technology in vehicles. Only time will tell.
As a rule of thumb, I do not like how the concept vehicles over the past decade or so have looked. That goes for the Space Hub, which from the outside looks to be better suited as a panel van than a comfortable family transport. However, the Saloon is quite attractive in a way that I can’t put my finger on and continues to slowly grow on me. Maybe it’s the doors, or the shooting brake slope of the rear half, but it really isn’t all that outlandish looking. At least when you compare it to all the other concept vehicles being showcased.