Honda and General Motors are scrapping plans for the joint development of affordable electric vehicles, Reuters reported. This comes one year after the two automakers finalised their cooperation on the plan that would see the first EVs from the project go on sale in 2027.
“After extensive studies and analysis, we have come to a mutual decision to discontinue the programme. Each company remains committed to affordability in the EV market,” the companies said in a joint statement.
“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 CEO Toshihiro Mibe was quoted by Bloomberg as saying in an interview.
Collaboration between Honda and General Motors has brought the Prologue, an all-electric SUV to debut in October last year, and this model has been scheduled to go on sale in early 2024.
Employing General Motors’ Ultium modular electric vehicle platform and battery technology, the Prologue is an electric SUV that measures 4,877 mm long, 1,989 mm wide, 1,643 mm tall with a wheelbase of 3,094 mm, and offers a dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric powertrain with 288 hp and 451 Nm.
Meanwhile, a Honda spokesperson said that the Japanese brand’s partnership with GM and its autonomous vehicle unit, Cruise due to a recent safety incident in California, US which led to a suspension of the robotaxi firm’s testing permit in the state.
GALLERY: Honda Prologue
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