Nissan and Honda Consider Electric Car Alliance & Tesla Official Talks Southeast Asian Expansion While China’s BYD Leads the Way & Japanese High Tech Gets SXSW Buzz

Here you will find trending news topics in the automotive and mobility markets around the world.

We carefully select interesting news in the automotive industry, both domestic and international, and translate and summarize the contents for your reference. We hope you will find it useful in catching up with the latest news in the industry.

Nissan and Honda Consider Alliance in Electric Vehicles

Mar 15, 2024

Nissan and Honda have announced a strategic partnership to explore collaboration in electric vehicles and related fields, likely aimed at catching up with Chinese competitors who are ahead in EVs. The partnership aims to strengthen environmental and electrification technology and software development for carbon neutrality and safer roads. This will include feasibility studies on automotive software platforms, EV components, and complementary products.

Makoto Uchida, CEO of Nissan, emphasized the need to compete not only with traditional automakers but also with innovative new entrants that dominate the market with competitive prices and speed. Honda’s Director Toshihiro Sanbe added that the two companies recognize that the automotive industry is in a phase of great change and aim to become industry leaders by leveraging the strengths of both companies.

While hybrids remain popular in Japan and will account for 40% of sales by 2022, Japanese automakers have lagged behind in the transition to fully electric vehicles. In contrast, EVs account for a significant portion of sales in the West, and the dominance of Chinese firms in this area has propelled China to become one of the world’s leading auto exporters. Faced with declining sales, Honda and Nissan are considering reducing their production capacity in China.

Analysts say the tie-up reflects the pressure on both companies to improve profitability through collaboration, with Nissan choosing to partner with a Japanese company like Honda rather than engage in a cultural conflict with its current alliance partner, Renault.

Source: Nissan, Honda to explore partnership in electric vehicles

Tesla Officials Discuss Southeast Asian Expansion as China’s BYD Leads the Way

Mar 13, 2024

Tesla has set market expansion into Southeast Asia as a top priority and is willing to compete with China’s BYD.

The region has become one of the fastest growing EV markets in recent years and could provide Tesla with a large customer base at a time when demand is declining in the United States. Responding to a user post marking the first delivery of Model Y vehicles in Malaysia, Rohan Patel, Tesla’s senior public policy and business development executive, said, “Southeast Asia will undoubtedly be a key location for growth in battery storage and electric vehicle adoption in the coming years.”

The Malaysian government announced last year that it would grant Tesla a license to sell cars in the country and that the company would also build a network of charging stations. Tesla has also discussed expanding its operations in other countries, including Thailand, where Thai officials said last month that the company was discussing potential production facilities after surveying local sites at the end of 2023. But Tesla’s Southeast Asian ambitions face competition from BYD, which, in contrast to Tesla’s direct-to-consumer approach, has partnered with major regional conglomerates, thereby enabling expansion, testing consumer preferences, and reconciling complex local regulations.

In the second quarter of 2023, Chinese EV makers accounted for 26 %以上を販売し、テスラは約8%of all vehicles in Southeast Asia’s small but fast-growing EV market. EVs in this quarter were up from 6.4 %を占め、前四半期の3.8%of all passenger car sales.

Source: Tesla official talks up Southeast Asia expansion as China’s BYD pulls ahead

Japanese High-Tech Makes a Splash at SXSW

Mar 12, 2024

Groundbreaking Japanese technology is making a splash at South by Southwest in Austin, Texas, U.S.A.

Honda Motor exhibited a hands-free mobility system that allows users to move around in a virtual world while wearing goggles. Sumitomo Metal Mining developed a jacket and other products made of a material that absorbs near-infrared rays, showing how it can convert sunlight into heat. The material is normally used in car windows and other automotive products, but the company says its so-called “downless down jacket” proves that the substance can also work in clothing.

Exhibitors will use the feedback from the event to refine their innovations and consider whether they should be commercialized.

Source: Japanese tech creates a buzz at SXSW