General Motors and Honda Motor said on Thursday they would develop two new electric vehicles for Honda and are finding more ways to expand their alliance.
The new vehicles will use GM batteries and be put together in GM plants in North America, the companies stated. Honda plans to start selling the vehicles in the United States and Canada in 2024.
“We are in discussions with one another regarding the possibility of further extending our partnership,” stated Rick Schostek, executive vice president of American Honda.
The relationship between GM and its smaller Japanese competitor reflects industry pressures to share technology and development expenses to meet demands for cleaner vehicles. Those pressures were major before the COVID-19 pandemic spread globally and reduced the vehicle demand, and promise to intensify as the crisis saps cash from producers’ accounts.
GM and Honda already work together on autonomous vehicles and fuel cell vehicle technology. The companies collaborated on the design of an autonomous vehicle called Cruise Origin for GM’s majority-owned Cruise Automation unit.
As part of the recent agreement, Honda will utilize GM’s hands-free driver assistance technology, marketed by GM as Super Cruise. Honda also will absorb GM’s Onstar telematics services into the electric automobiles developed with GM.
