Honda Motor Co. long eschewed big strategic alliances, preferring to go it alone even as many of its carmaking peers banded together to improve economies of scale. That’s changing now that the Japanese automaker is shifting more aggressively to electric vehicles.
"It will be extremely risky for Honda to push the move alone,” Chief Executive Officer Toshihiro Mibe said in an interview Tuesday. "It’s meaningful to form alliances, mass-produce and lower costs to make our business sustainable.”
As the world’s largest manufacturer of engines, Honda is uniquely exposed to risks posed by combustion falling out of favor around the globe. To better position itself for the electric age, Honda reached an agreement with General Motors last year to jointly develop two new Honda EVs.