Toronto, Ontario — General Motors and Honda have agreed to a non-binding memorandum that will allow the two companies to share technology and vehicle innovation in North America starting next year.
This proposed agreement will see the two companies come together in research and development intended to leverage the benefits and best of both brands. The alliance will ultimately generate significant cost savings from sharing vehicle platforms and propulsion systems, joint purchasing, potential manufacturing efficiencies and other partnered efforts.
“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,” said Seiji Kuraishi, executive vice president of Honda. “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.”
Back in April the company’s announced a separate agreement to jointly develop two brand-new vehicles for Honda. With the interiors and exteriors designed by Honda, GM will provide the power through proprietary Ultium batteries as part of its global EV platform which GM says is another “step towards” an all-electric future.
The relationship between Honda and GM, which began more than two decades ago, has recently seen collaborations in the areas of fuel cells, batteries and the Cruise Origin shared autonomous vehicle. This new alliance will allow the company’s to share resources from sourcing materials, logistics, localization strategies and ultimately see them invest in better technologies to develop future products.
“This alliance will help both companies accelerate investment in future mobility innovation by freeing up additional resources,” GM President Mark Reuss said in a statement. “Given our strong track record of collaboration, the companies would realize significant synergies in the development of today’s vehicle portfolio.”
Discussions for co-development will begin immediately, with plans for engineering to start in early 2021.
