Honda Is Consolidating Its Confusing EV Strategy
Honda splits the world's markets into North America, China, and then everybody else.
Japanese automaker Honda has a confusing EV strategy: a forked path with three prongs. It has a partnership with General Motors for two EVs that will be based on GM's Ultium battery platform and architecture and will be built at a GM plant; another partnership with Sony will yield affordable EVs; and Honda is working on its own e-architecture for future vehicles.
In continued efforts to play catchup when it comes to electric vehicles, Honda today announced some global reorganization and the creation of a new business division to accelerate the transformation of the automaker to a more digital future.
Starting April 1, Honda Motor Co. will operate under a new global organization to accelerate its EV business and better solidify its efforts to reach carbon neutrality by 2050. A new Electrification Business Development Operations will be created to consolidate Honda's confusing business strategy and battery electric product development that will include vehicles as well as motorcycles and other power products.
American Honda will establish a new Digital Services & Marketing Business Unit that will pull together existing digital functions, including software services, marketing, and customer experience.
The global changes also include a plan to consolidate Honda's current six regional operations into three regional operations—North America, China, and a new Regional Operations (Global Group) that will combine four current regional operations, Japan, Asia & Oceania, South America and the Europe, Africa and the Middle East Region.
Promotions Part of Reorganization
In personnel news, Honda announced that Dave Gardner will retire as American Honda executive vice president of National Operations, effective April 1, 2023. Mamadou Diallo, currently vice president of Auto Sales, will be promoted to senior vice president and assume full responsibility for Auto Sales, including both the Honda and Acura sales organizations, Sales Planning, Logistics, Sales Strategy and a new Product Communications division.
"Dave has played an important role over the past three years in helping lead the company in the face of major challenges including the COVID pandemic, supply constraints and the restructuring of our Auto Sales organization," Diallo said in a statement. "He also helped set the direction for our digital and electrified future in the automobile sales area, which will be a major focus of my efforts in this new role."
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Honda is holding a press conference later today, and we will update if any more information is revealed.
Alisa Priddle joined MotorTrend in 2016 as the Detroit Editor. A Canadian, she received her Bachelor of Journalism degree from Carleton University in Ottawa, Ontario, and has been a reporter for 40 years, most of it covering the auto industry because there is no more fascinating arena to cover. It has it all: the vehicles, the people, the plants, the competition, the drama. Alisa has had a wonderfully varied work history as a reporter for four daily newspapers including the Detroit Free Press where she was auto editor, and the Detroit News where she covered the GM and Chrysler bankruptcies, as well as auto trade publication Wards, and two enthusiast magazines: Car & Driver and now MotorTrend. At MotorTrend Alisa is a judge for the MotorTrend Car, Truck, SUV and Person of the Year. She loves seeing a new model for the first time, driving it for the first time, and grilling executives for the stories behind them. In her spare time, she loves to swim, boat, sauna, and then jump into a cold lake or pile of snow.
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