Honda and General Motors Sign MOU Toward Establishing a Strategic Alliance in North America
General Motors and Honda to explore sharing vehicle
platforms and propulsion systems for a variety of core segments
Combined efforts would enable both companies to accelerate
innovation and more effectively deploy resources in
advanced and next-generation technologies
Alliance
builds on successful collaboration in electrified vehicles and technologies
SEPTEMBER 3, 2020 – General Motors and Honda today announced they
have signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding (MOU) following extensive
preliminary discussions toward establishing a North American automotive
alliance. The scope of the proposed alliance includes a range of vehicles to be
sold under each company’s distinct brands, as well as cooperation in
purchasing, research and development, and connected services.
Under the proposed
alliance, Honda and GM would collaborate on a variety of segments in North
America, intending to share common vehicle platforms, including both electrified
and internal combustion propulsion systems that align with the vehicle
platforms. Co-development planning discussions will begin immediately, with engineering work beginning in early 2021.
The announcement builds on the agreement signed between the companies
this past April to jointly develop two all-new electric vehicles for Honda
based on GM’s highly flexible global EV platform powered by Ultium batteries. The
GM-Honda relationship, which began more than two decades ago, includes recent
collaboration between the companies on fuel cells, batteries and the Cruise
Origin shared autonomous vehicle.
“This alliance will help both companies accelerate investment in future
mobility innovation by freeing up additional resources. Given our strong track
record of collaboration, the companies would realize significant synergies in
the development of today’s vehicle portfolio,” said Mark Reuss, president of General
Motors.
“Through this new alliance with GM, we
can achieve substantial cost efficiencies in North America that will enable us
to invest in future mobility technology, while maintaining our own distinct and
competitive product offerings. Combining the strengths of each company, and by carefully determining what we will do
on our own and what we will do in collaboration, we will strive to build a
win-win relationship to create new value for our customers. In this way, Honda will continue making
steady progress in solidifying our existing business by realizing strong
products, strong manufacturing capability and a strong business structure,” said Seiji
Kuraishi, executive vice president of Honda Motor Co., Ltd.
Alliance
to drive scale and improve performance through platform sharing
An alliance in North America
between Honda and GM would leverage the best technologies and generate
substantial cost efficiencies from shared vehicle platforms and propulsion
systems, joint purchasing, potential manufacturing efficiencies and other
collaboration efforts. This would enable both GM and Honda to make greater
investments in advanced and next-generation technologies.
GM and Honda also plan to share R&D and engineering costs for select
future co-developed vehicle and propulsion platforms. This would create substantial
efficiencies and free-up capital, enabling both companies to meet the
increasing requirements to invest in various future mobility trends and
additional growth opportunities for each company’s distinct brands.
Collaboration in purchasing to drive scale and efficiency
Honda and GM plan to collaborate in joint purchasing activities to
create further cost efficiencies by leveraging both company’s respective scale,
insight and best practices. Purchasing collaboration would be focused on joint
sourcing of materials, logistics and localization strategies.
R&D and connected services cooperation to exceed consumer
expectations
Introducing advanced technology is imperative given shifting consumer and
regulatory requirements. To address this challenge efficiently, the alliance
would explore combining the R&D efforts between the two companies related
to advanced technology areas including electrical architecture, advanced driver
assist systems, infotainment, connectivity and vehicle-to-everything
communication (V2X).
In April of this year, the companies
announced that Honda will incorporate GM’s OnStar safety, security and connected
services into the two all-new electric vehicles for Honda based on GM’s global
EV platform, seamlessly integrating them with HondaLink. Based on that collaboration, GM and Honda will
explore further co-development opportunities for future connected services, including GM’s OnStar and
infotainment.
All facets of the alliance will be
governed by a joint committee, comprised of senior executives from both
companies.
General
Motors (NYSE:GM)
is a global company committed to delivering safer, better and more sustainable
ways for people to get around. General Motors, its subsidiaries and its joint
venture entities sell vehicles under the Chevrolet, Buick, GMC, Cadillac, Holden, Baojun and Wuling brands.
More information on the company and its subsidiaries, including OnStar, a global
leader in vehicle safety and security services, can be found at http://www.gm.com.
Honda Motor Co. (NYSE: HMC), Honda designs, manufactures and markets automobiles, motorcycles, power
products and aviation products worldwide. A global leader in powertrain and
electromotive technologies, Honda produces nearly 28 million engines annually
for its three product lines. Honda and its partners build products in more than
60 manufacturing plants in 27 countries, employing more than 208,000 associates
globally.