Japanese auto manufacturer Honda's Chinese subsidiary Dongfeng Honda plans to build a battery electric vehicle (BEV) production plant in central China's Hubei province, targeting commercial operations in 2024.
Dongfeng Honda, a 50:50 joint venture between Honda and China's Dongfeng Motor, aims to build a 120,000 unit/yr BEV production plant. The firm will buy batteries mainly from Chinese battery manufacturer CATL through a contract to obtain 56GWh of batteries to equip Honda's all-EV and plug-in hybrid vehicles until 2027.
Honda plans to sell BEVs manufactured at the new plant in the Chinese market. The company sold 10,151 EVs in China during 2021.
Honda announced its strategy in April last year to sell only BEVs and fuel cell EVs globally by 2040. Japanese car producers have accelerated their shift toward EVs with fellow Japanese manufacturer Toyota revising up its investment in development.
