Like other Japanese manufacturers, Honda has lost touch with the e-car a bit. Now the group wants to catch up.
Within the electrification hangs Honda so far behind. Apart from the small Honda e, the world's seventh largest car manufacturer does not yet have much to offer. Now the conversion of the product range is to be accelerated. By the end of the decade, e-car sales should be around two million vehicles per year. In 2040, the complete farewell to the combustion engine is imminent, as Japan's number two has now confirmed again in a strategy presentation. A total of around 37 billion euros are to be invested in the new drives over the next ten years.
New crossover is coming
Around 30 new electric vehicles will come onto the market by the end of the decade. The spectrum ranges from inexpensive mini vans to high-end sports cars. In Europe, a small crossover will start next year, which the recently presented Ny1 study gives an outlook on. The technology could be taken over by the Honda e.
Acura? SUV?
However, the main focus of the Japanese is on markets outside of Europe. For example in the USA, where the group recently entered into a cooperation with General Motors for the development and production of inexpensive cars. A large SUV has been officially announced, which will be launched as the Honda Prologue and as an offshoot for the luxury brand Acura. In China, ten new electric models are to come in the next five years, and a small commercial vehicle, a mini car and an SUV have been announced for Japan from 2024. In addition, Honda is working together with the electronics group Sony on a family of electric cars that want to score particularly well in terms of networking and digitization.
In addition to new cars, Honda also wants to invest in battery technology. A pilot plant with the production of solid-state batteries is scheduled to start as early as 2024, and the market launch is planned for the second half of the decade. With conventional batteries with liquid electrolyte, the Japanese rely on cooperation; in the USA, the Ultium batteries from General Motors are to be used, and according to the company, a joint venture with the Americans is also conceivable in the long term. In China, the energy storage is to be obtained from CATL, for the Japanese mini-e cars from AESC.