GM, Honda work together on e-vehicles
Media report says EV sport utes for both companies could be built in Mexico and Tennessee
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 is Honda has apparently asked General Motors to manufacture battery-powered cars on its behalf.
Automotive News reports that GM plans to start building a brace 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 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 a year later. Noise was made about this project earlier this year, when Honda announced GM 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.
This corporate mash-up 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.