The association agreements that Honda has in the United States with General Motors (GM) could level up with the arrival of its new EV. Based on the new Ultium platform, the Japanese manufacturer seems to delegate the production of its electrified range to another manufacturer.
After presenting the Honda E, a small premium electric car for its strictly urban price, Honda prepares its future plans by betting everything on its alliance with General Motors in the United States.
According to Automotive News’s leaks, the new crossovers from Honda and Acura (the premium brand that competes with Lexus, Mercedes, Cadillac, and other brands) will be manufactured in Mexico and Tennessee, respectively.
Both factories belong to the colossus General Motors that will begin in 2024 to produce Honda electric vehicles. The new Japanese zero-emission cars will share dimensions with the Cadillac Lyriq. This model will begin production in 2022 after completing the transformation of the Spring Hill plant in Tennessee, where GM has invested 2 billion dollars.
Once the Spring Hill plant’s transformation is completed, it will have an expansion of the paint and body shops and a vast improvement of the production lines, new machinery, and equipment necessary to carry out the production of electric vehicles.
With this step, it seems that Honda is launching into the electric vehicle sector, renouncing to be a protagonist in the first person in the production of its electric range.
Both Honda and General Motors have an important partnership in the manufacturing of plug-in hybrids that began in 2016, while also collaborating in developing autonomous driving systems and hydrogen since 2013.
Honda’s approach to GM is one more example of the consolidation processes of the large traditional industrial groups in the face of the challenge posed by the electric car’s arrival.
Vehicles based on the new Ultium platform aim to reach autonomies of 450 miles when they reach the market from 2024 or 2025.