GM may assemble electric crossovers for Honda, Acura

The Grinch once mused “if I can’t find a reindeer, I’ll make one instead.”

It’s a philosophy sometimes embraced by the automotive industry, too, as car companies often turn to one another to crib their homework when caught a bit short.

The latest example of this engineering chicanery? Honda has apparently asked General Motors to manufacture battery-powered cars on its behalf.

According to Automotive News, General Motors plans to start building a brace of battery-electric vehicles for the Honda Motor Company. Within the next four years, a Honda-branded crossover type vehicle will apparently pop out of a GM plant in Mexico.

Meanwhile, plans are afoot to assemble an an Acura branded machine alongside the upcoming Cadillac Lyriq that’ll be manufactured in Tennessee.

Neither of these things will happen prior to 2023, according to AN‘S unnamed source, with the Honda EV appearing first and the Acura-badged crossover showing up about a year later. Noise was made about this project earlier this year, when Honda announced The General would be deeply involved in the development of two future EVS.

At the time, we learned GM would provide the platform and Ultium batteries while Honda would take care of the styling and tuning. We highly doubt the Acura will share any of Cadillac’s recognizable design cues. In April, question marks were raised about assembly and timing. This report from Automotive News brings those variables into clearer focus.

Stretching the rumour mill a little bit, this decision could help offset the exodus of Cadillac dealers who chose to take the money and run need volume to recoup the upfront investment made by their manufacturers. Perhaps GM can use this tie-up as a way to more quickly amortize development costs in light of fewer dealers hawking Cadillac wares.

This corporate mashup is not without precedent. Back in the 1990s, Honda and its fledgling Acura brand were watching their competitors print money with newly-hot SUVS.

Looking to their cupboard and finding it bereft of such machines, they inked an agreement with General Motors to rebadge the Isuzu Rodeo and Trooper as Honda and Acura rigs, respectively. In return, Isuzu gained access to the then-new Odyssey minivan, onto which it slapped its own name.

Product planning makes for strange bedfellows.

A Honda-branded vehicle is expected to be built at a GM plant in Mexico, while an Acura-branded machine is to be manufactured in Tennessee. when presented with corporate requests to implement expensive dealership upgrades in preparation for an Evheavy lineup. Vehicles of all stripes, especially ones which incorporate a lot of new tech,