Honda’s China JV Starts Making EVs at New Plant as Japanese Carmaker’s Electrification Gathers Pace(Yicai) Dec. 23 -- A new energy vehicle factory built by GAC Honda Automobile, a joint venture between Honda Motor and China's GAC Group, has come online with an output of 120,000 electric cars a year, as the Japanese auto giant ramps up its electrification transformation in the country.
The new plant will produce Honda’s pure electric model e:NP2, launched in the first half, and the first model in its new all-electric marque Ye, the Ye P7, Honda said today. Costing JPY70 billion (USD446.9 million) and located in the Guangzhou Economic Development Zone, the factory took two years to build.
To achieve its 2050 carbon neutrality goal, Honda is also committed to reducing carbon emissions in the automobile production process. The new factory adopts a variety of measures including solar power generation, intelligent energy management, and heat recovery to save energy and reduce emissions and has received a carbon neutrality declaration certificate from the Guangzhou Carbon Emissions Trading Center, it said.
Under intense pressure from local rivals, Honda is accelerating its EV transition in China. By 2027, it expects to have a line-up of 10 pure electric car models, including the e:N series released in 2022 and the Ye series released last month, the company said. By 2035, Honda's vehicles will be 100 percent electrified.
This is Honda’s second factory dedicated to the production of electric cars, both of which are in China, and signifies the importance that the Tokyo-based company is putting on accelerating its electrification transformation in the country.
The first factory, built by another JV Dongfeng Honda Automobile in Wuhan, came online in October and also has an annual production capacity of 120,000 vehicles. It was Honda’s first factory in the world to only produce NEVs.
Honda is under tremendous pressure in China due to the rise of local EV manufacturers. In the first 11 months, Honda's sales in China plunged 31 percent to 740,399 autos from the same period last year, according to the latest data.
Editor: Kim Taylor
