Honda And Hitachi Automotive Announce JV For Electric Vehicle Motors

By Cyrus Dhabhar

1 mins read

Published on July 3, 2017

Highlights

Honda and Hitachi JV to help design and produce electric motors
Could help increases electric car capacity for Honda Motor Company
Electric cars in India are taxed at a low 12 per cent under new GST

The Honda Motor Company and Hitachi Automotive Systems have announced a joint venture to design, develop and manufacture motors for future electric vehicles. The new company will be based out of Japan in the current premises of Hitachi Automotive Systems in Hitachinaka-shi, Ibaraki Prefecture and will also be receiving grants from the local government. The new electric motor manufacturing facility will help Honda increase the number of all electric or hybrid vehicles it makes and also to increase the number of full electric or hybrid models it offers. The joint venture will also be advantageous for Honda as it brings in Hitachi Automotive Systems which has decades of auto component manufacturing knowledge in as a partner in component manufacturing instead of being only a supplier. Hitachi Automotive Systems in the past have supplied major components to a number of Japanese and other Asian automakers including the likes of Nissan. Incidentally, Hitachi in the 90s also supplied components to Indian car manufacturers like Premier Automobiles based out of Kurla in Mumbai. The Japanese component manufacturer supplied fuel systems and carburettors for the Premier Padmini S1 during its very final phase of production and also to the Premier 118 NE. The 118 NE, essentially a Fiat 124 with a Nissan engine and gearbox combination also had other mechanical and electronic components manufactured by Hitachi auto systems. With the recent updates in taxation slabs in India, electric cars have been placed in a low 12 per cent tax slab. This reduces taxes on all-electric cars by nearly 7.5 per cent which might help with making them more popular with Indian consumers. The Indian government is also strongly pushing for India becoming an all-electric car country by 2030. Honda’s joint venture with Hitachi will give them a push in terms of making more motors and relatively more electric cars which could cater to the Indian market in the near future. Currently, only Mahindra sells electric cars in India including the e2o and the eVerito.