Honda, GM Terminate Affordable EV Tie-Up

Honda and GM have decided to terminate their joint venture regarding cheaper electric vehicles and end that specific partnership. General Motors has chosen to prioritise profitability over speed when launching a number of electric vehicle models. However, they will keep working on driverless taxis.
Their objective was to put together EVs that will be more affordable than GM's anticipated US$30,000 Chevrolet Equinox and comparable upcoming Honda models. By collaborating, GM and Honda hoped to lower battery costs more quickly and produce electric vehicles (EVs) at a lower cost than competitors Tesla Inc. and BYD Co.

Only a year after beginning their partnership with the intention of competing with Tesla in EV sales, Honda Motor and General Motors have made the unexpected decision to give up on their collaborative effort to develop affordable electric vehicles (EVs).
With intentions to launch the first models in North America in 2027, the automakers had decided in April of last year to develop a new architecture based on GM's Ultium EV battery, which will be primarily used for small crossover sport utility vehicles (SUVs).

GM issued a warning earlier this week, stating that it is now impossible for it to predict if it will make the US$14 billion (RM66.08 billion) in profit that it had projected for this year due to the United Auto Workers (UAW) strike. Due to work stoppage-related expenses, costs are rising at a rate of about US$200 million per week, surpassing US$800 million already, according to the automaker.
“After studying this for a year, we decided that this would be difficult as a business, so at the moment we are ending development of an affordable EV,” Honda's chief executive officer Toshihiro Mibe said in an interview with Bloomberg Television. “GM and Honda will search for a solution separately. This project itself has been canceled.”