GM, Honda join hands to develop cars in North America

[DETROIT] General Motors and Honda Motor have teamed up to make a range of vehicles in North America, deepening their ties as carmakers come under pressure to share technology and costs to meet demands for cleaner vehicles.

Under the alliance, Honda and GM intend to share common vehicle platforms, including electrified and internal combustion propulsion systems, the US carmaker said on Thursday.

Talks to plan co-development will begin immediately, with engineering work starting in early 2021, GM said.

The partnership represents a significant expansion of existing collaborations between the two companies on electric vehicles, connected vehicle technology and fuel cells.

It also marks another milestone in the consolidation of the global auto industry, as pressures to cut emissions and move toward electric vehicles strain the capital and engineering resources of even the largest players.

The companies had announced in April that they would jointly develop two new electric vehicles for Honda and were planning to explore more ways to expand their alliance. They have already worked together on the design of an autonomous vehicle called Cruise Origin for GM's majority-owned Cruise Automation unit.

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Honda has for years remained largely independent, staying clear of industry mergers. But the partnership with GM will give it economies of scale it cannot achieve on its own.

"Overall, we believe this alliance would help both companies realize significant cost savings in the development of our vehicle portfolios," GM President Mark Reuss said.

"Specifically for GM, the substantial amount of money we would save as a result of the proposed alliance would help us fund our vision of an all-electric future." REUTERS