In order to achieve two-third of its annual global sales from electric vehicles by 2030, Honda Motor Company announced partnership with Japanese supplier Hitachi Automotive Systems on February 7 in Tokyo. Honda-Hitachi joint venture plans to invest $44.5 million (5 billion yen) on the Japan headquarters with subservient operations in the USA and China to keep eco-friendly vehicles and autonomous driving technologies on the go.
The Honda-Hitachi joint venture is expected to launch in July with 51% shares kept by Hitachi and 49% retained by Honda. The drive control systems will be used for hybrid, plug-in hybrid and electric vehicles.
Car manufacturers around the world are sharing investments to keep up with the demands of auto market, deal with rising costs and fulfill the need of fuel cell and electric vehicles. In this connection, Toyota and Suzuki agreed to begin formal talks about their partnership on Monday. Last month, Honda announced to collaborate with General Motors to produce fuel-cell systems. The Japanese company also revealed its plans with Waymo (autonomous driving unit of Google Parent Alphabet) for using its self-driving technology in its cars, which it will be released in 2020 with the ability of operating on highways. Honda-Hitachi joint venture plotted to combine their advantages to better compete with the EV manufacturing industries.