Honda will invest ¥500 billion ($3.4 billion) in its electric motorcycle business by 2030 and has raised its target for annual sales to 4 million units for that year, up from a previous goal of 3.5 million.
The company plans to introduce 30 new electric motorcycle models worldwide by 2030 and will start operating dedicated electric motorcycle plants globally from around 2027, it said in a statement Wednesday. New technology will reduce the length of assembly lines by about 40%, it said.
"We aim to sell electric motorbikes at the same price as ICE models,” Daiki Mihara, head of Honda’s motorcycle electrification development division, said during an online news briefing, referring to internal combustion engines.
The company highlighted India and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations region as places where it aims to expand market share. Mihara said new production facilities will "highly likely” be in India and Southeast Asia.
Honda added that it has been developing lithium ferro-phosphate batteries and is planning to adopt them in 2025.
"Having a variety of batteries, each with different strengths in terms of output range and cost, will enable Honda to accommodate a wider range of use applications and expand the range of product variations,” the company said in the statement.
In the mid- to long-term, Honda will explore batteries with high energy density, with an eye toward using all-solid-state batteries that are under development. It said it aimed to reduce the cost of finished electric motorcycles by 50%.
The company is aiming for an operating profit margin of more than 10% for its motorcycle business in 2030 and over 5% for electric motorcycles.
Earlier Wednesday, Honda announced that its global output of automobiles totaled 404,276 units in October, up 23% from the same month last year. Sales also rose 23%, to about 372,000 units.