Honda showcases Vision for more sustainable product design at Milan Design Week

Honda is showcasing its evolving approach to more sustainable product design with the European premiere of its latest electrified urban vehicle concepts – the SUSTAINA-C Concept car and Pocket Concept motorcycle – at Milan Design Week from 16-21 April.

Both will star alongside the SH125i ‘Vetro’ scooter to demonstrate the innovative material use and unique design aesthetics that can be created while reducing the CO2 emissions arising from the manufacturing process at Honda Italia Industriale’s factory in Atessa, Italy. This is one way in which Honda is pursuing its target of achieving carbon neutrality across all products and corporate activities by 2050.

As first shown at the 2024 Japan Mobility Show, the SUSTAINA-C Concept explores how society could be freed from the constraints of finite resources. It comes paired with the Pocket Concept, a compact motorcycle that can be stored in the luggage compartment and provide last mile mobility.

The panels are manufactured using recycled acrylic resin sourced from second-hand taillights to create exterior panels that do not require painting, allowing Honda to create a unique, unpainted finish that would not be possible with traditional materials. This material approach could reduce emissions during production by up to 45 per cent – partly via the recycled materials in use, but also in leaving the panels unpainted, which can account for as much as 80 per cent of the CO2 emissions from an automobile factory.

The model on show in Milan features a black and white marble effect, achieved by mixing colours with different melting points into the panels as they are moulded – leaving a marbling behind as the material settles into the mould.