Honda Sells Hybrid Systems To Chinese Automakers
Hybrids are a tough sell in China. Honda and Toyota want to change this. Honda wants to change it so bad that it will provide its core hybrid car technologies to other Chinese automakers, in addition to its joint venture partners, The Nikkei [sub] learned today.
The story is not official yet. Honda will have a press conference in Beijing on Monday morning, maybe there will be more. The conference is one of more than eighty (we kid you not) that day. Toyota will also produce hybrids and hybrid technology in China.
By making the technologies available to more makers, Honda hopes that hybrids will be accepted quicker in China. Also, higher quantities mean lower cost.
Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.
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I can't help but thin of the situation in Argentina with Spain's YPF. What's to stop Chinese from doing the same thing? To put it bluntly I don't trust the Chinese government and I think they are acting as internationally in their relations as if everything is Zero-sum. This to me is like giving the Devil a gun and then wondering why he shoots you with it later.
Everywhere in Beijing inside the 3rd ring, and all of the surface streets and a lot of the arterials inside the 5th are basically the ideal conditions for hybrids. Still haven't seen a Prius around here, but Toyota is flogging the CT200H pretty hard, and I've seen a fair number of them downtown that didn't appear to be there for promotional purposes. That's about it as far as hybrids go around here.
The advantage of Toyota's and Ford's powersplit hybrids is lower cost since they replace a transmission, starter and alternator with a single unit.. I think GM's eAssist is a better low cost solution also.
In the meantime, Reuters reports that Honda denied the Nikkei report.