Honda Motor Company will set up a new unit to propel its goals in the lucrative electric vehicle market, the Japanese automaker said on Tuesday.
The new division, to be launched on April 1, will prioritise electrification across a range of products, including cars, motorcycles and generators, Honda said in a statement.
The shake-up is part of the automaker’s bid to catch up in the fast-growing market for full electric vehicles, led by Tesla and China’s BYD.
Japanese automakers have been at risk of falling behind their European and US rivals in the EV market.
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To combine regional units
The Japanese automaker also said it would combine current six regional operations to three, composed of North America, China and associated regions including Japan, the rest of Asia and Europe.
Integrating to the three was to “rapidly develop the implementation of resource shifts in accordance with the future line-up strategy in line with the electrification acceleration,” a spokesperson said in a briefing.
The automaker anticipates its vehicle line-up in North America and China would be mid- to large size, whereas the line-up for other regions would be small- to mid-size in other areas, the spokesperson said.
- Reuters, with additional editing from Alfie Habershon
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