Honda Looking To Expand Collaboration With General Motors
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Honda Motor is contemplating expanding its collaboration with General Motors to include such high technology as autonomous cars, IT, and even vehicle electrification.
Since 2013, GM and Honda have been and currently are collaborating on developing hydrogen fuel cell vehicle propulsion technology, which only emits water vapor. The two automakers struck the partnership in July 2013 and plan to release fuel cell vehicles under their own brands in 2020, four years after Honda’s planned launch of its independently-developed fuel cell car in 2016.
Honda CEO, Takahiro Hachigo, was quoted as saying in an interview on Friday that the collaboration between the two has been going extremely well and that they are considering expanding it “on a technological level”.
“We want to consider expanding the collaboration to include self-driving technology, information technology and electrification,” Hachigo said.
Honda currently lags behind GM when it comes to autonomous (driverless) vehicle technology and does not have concrete plans for manufacturing a vehicle with such technology. Meanwhile, GM will deliver autonomous vehicle features in certain Cadillac vehicles in 2017.
Meanwhile, GM hasn’t been as adept as Honda traditionally at hybrid vehicle technology. However, recent announcements of all-new vehicles such as the 2016 Chevrolet Malibu Hybrid and Cadillac CT6 PHEV show this to be rapidly changing.
In addition, an expansion of the partnership would likely also drive down development costs, development time, and possibly even manufacturing costs and time thereby increasing efficiencies.
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The fact that General Motors has a joint venture with Honda in the development of hydrogen fuel cell technology and GM’s joint venture with Ford to develop a 10-speed automatic transmission says FCA’s Sergio Marchionne of wanting to merge with General Motors to save money in development costs is a farce because Ford and Tesla have said they would license any technology they had; thus, the true reason why Marchionne wants a merger with General Motors is to throw Mary Barra out as CEO and take over to gain access to GM’s cash reserves.
Sergio will have to look elsewhere for a merger partner. GM is not and will never be interested in it. The investors, GM Board, managment, and others around the auto industry have said they are not interested plenty of times . His aggression on this matter is not only going to jeopardise his job but also FCA as a whole.
Yes GM has had a history of joint ventures with Honda in the past with the Honda engines Saturn Vue and the Buick Powered Isuzu based Honda Passport. Today they are working hard on the Hydrogen Cell project and have been for a while.
GM likes these deals as it saves cost and in the case of Honda while they are a large company they are not large enough to do it on their own anymore. Only a few companies can do it all and most are still looking for a reliable partner.
Yes Sergio is just looking for a money grab as he wants to remain in charge at FCA and has no other way to remain so if he makes any other kind of deal. VW pretty much let him know if they came in he would be gone and that is why he avoids them.
I predicted a long time ago GM and Honda would share more cost and partner in more projects as they complement each other well. Each one has what the other needs and would be able to remain independent but still in a trusted partnership.
I would watch this partnership as it could prove to be a very powerful and rewarding one. The two of them combined could really put pressure on the other companies. Yet each will retain their independence.
If you were unaware of them working together I would recommend watching for more projects to go public as we move forward. It could be interesting for both.
Hey, Marchionne! You’ll get better returns with collaborative efforts than with a merger! Think about that before you open that hole in your face next time.
A little nugget of wisdom. If only FCA actually had desirable technology under development that needed collaboration.
Big events look simple in newsprint, but this article tells me that GM has asked Honda to be it’s ‘poison pill’ against FCA.
Meanwhile, Honda is falling behind and may long term need GM as a capital partner. GM/Honda could mirror Nissan-Renault, be less formal, or become the next Hyundai-Kia and swallow loss of market share.
Neither company has truly mastered the modular architecture like VW and (soon) Toyota. I predict a shared common Opel-derived architecture by 2025. I’d rather see GM half Japanese than half Sergio!
Bye Sergio!
Stephen don’t make this into something that it’s not.
It is well know that development cost are out of sight that even the major players are willing to work with others to save cost. Example the Ford GM partnership on the Transmissions. Or that BMW has worked closer with Toyota of late and many other examples.
There are only a few companies that go it alone anymore and if they can they will still partner with someone else who has money and a good base.
Honda has worked with GM in the past. They are not as large of a company to be in the go it alone group. They are solvent and do have good cash flow so they make a prime partner and they also have a very good engineering department.
They with GM have a lot they could do and make a very powerful joint partnership.
Honda for sure is not the Poison pill. If GM were to do that they would burn through their money fast to make them less attractive to Sergio and as of now they are making good profits and making smart investments in new technology.
As for their new platforms they are spot on for where they wanted to be as of now. The RWD version with the addition of the Omega has been a detour and I expect a replacement for the Alpha and Omega will merge both of these in the future.
Now do not get too carried away here as I expect GM and Honda to work together on things like the Hydrogen systems and other advanced things like EV and other future driveline technology. Now I do not expect them to share platforms and or even models. Honda wants to remain independent but still have a working relationship with a larger MFG.
For Honda this is perfect. GM is a strong advanced partner that can contribute in money and technology while not trying to take over them. And for GM Honda may be smaller but has strong technology and will help fund these advanced programs while not expecting GM to bail them out or take them over.