The companies announced that they would work together to develop affordable electric vehicles in 2022 – they planned to invest five billion dollars in the project and became leaders in the EV segment, displacing Tesla and Chinese automakers. However, already in 2023, Honda and General Motors abandoned the ambitious plan, reports Reuters, citing statements from both parties.
According to the original plan, for five billion dollars, Honda and General Motors would develop and launch several electric models costing up to $30,000 that would be aimed at a wide range of consumers. They were supposed to appear on the US market in 2027, and then come to South America and China.
However, just a year later, the promising project was canceled. “After studying the pros and cons for a year, we decided that it would be very difficult to implement this as a business,” Honda CEO Toshihiro Mibe explained in an interview. Both companies will continue to develop a line of electric vehicles, but will do so independently based on their current business plan. For example, Honda has already presented three “green” new products at the Japan Mobility Show, which opened in Tokyo: the Specialty Sports Concept sports car, the Sustaina-C hatchback, and the CI-MEV city car.
As for General Motors, the concern recently reported a slowdown in sales growth. Against this background, the company delayed the launch of the Chevrolet Equinox EV by several months and delayed production of the electric Chevrolet Silverado EV and GMC Sierra EV at the Orion plant in Michigan until the end of 2025. Despite the fact that sales of GM electric cars grew by 21 percent in the third quarter, their share in total sales is small – just over 20 thousand out of 670 thousand.
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