- Honda and GM announced jointly the end of their partnership to pursue affordable EVs.
- GM will still collaborate to build the Honda Prologue and Acura ZDX EVs.
- Meanwhile, Honda revealed its new Prelude Concept with a hybrid powertrain.
Honda Reveals Prelude Hybrid Concept and Cancels EV Plans with GM
The two unlikely partners will still collaborate on hydrogen fuel and autonomous vehicles
Only after a year and half since the initial announcement, General Motors and Honda have decided to mutually uncouple from a relationship designed to create affordable EVs.
“After extensive studies and analysis, we have come to a mutual decision to discontinue the program. Each company remains committed to affordability in the EV market,” GM spokesman Darryll Harrison said in an email to CNBC. This doesn't seem to totally line up with an interview that Bloomberg Television conducted with Honda CEO Toshihiro Mibe, where Mibe says that the affordable EV program “would be difficult as a business.”
Harrison confirmed that GM will still collaborate with Honda to build the 2024 Honda Prologue and 2024 Acura ZDX EVs, and they’ll be working together to advance their mutual pursuits of hydrogen fuel cells. The two are also planning to launch a driverless ride-hail service in Japan in early 2026 with GM subsidiary Cruise.
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Stirring up the industry even more is GM’s last-minute revival of the all-electric Bolt, which had a surprising surge in sales after Chevrolet announced it would discontinue the compact EV. Scheduled for the model graveyard at the end of 2023, the Bolt will instead get an Ultium-powered redesign in the race for affordable EVs.
“Our prior portfolio plans included several newly designed vehicles in the entry-level segments and a capital commitment of $5 billion over the next several years,” GM CEO Mary Barra said during an earnings call on Tuesday. “However, by leveraging the best attributes of today’s Bolt EUV as well as Ultium ... we will deliver an even better driving, charging and ownership experience with a vehicle we know customers love.”
Meanwhile, Mibe pulled the drape from the Prelude Concept, a new version of the sporty two-door coupe that had been shelved in the early 2000s after a solid run in the '80s and '90s. Details are slim so far (though Acura PR representative Andrew Quillen clarified the Prelude Concept features a hybrid powertrain, not a fully electric one, as some outlets reported), but it appears to be production-ready.
Edmunds says
One might imagine the companies’ lawyers asking that the public respect their privacy as they navigate this separation. Breakups are hard to do.