BEIJING, China, June 14, 2013 - Jointly with Guangqi Honda Automobile Co., Ltd. and Dongfeng Honda Automobile Co., Ltd., Honda's automobile production and sales joint venture companies in China, Honda Motor (China) Investment Co., Ltd. (HMCI), a wholly-owned Honda subsidiary, today announced Honda's future direction of technological strategies, plans of new model introduction, and strengthening localization of research and development operation for China.
Outline of the announcement
＜Direction of technological strategies for China＞
- Based on the spirit upon which Honda was founded - utilizing technology to help people - Honda will actively introduce advanced technologies of the environment, safety and comfort to provide its customers with more joys, fun and convenience.
Environmental Technologies
- The all-new Accord and JADE (Chinese name: 傑徳) equipped with "EARTH DREAMS TECHNOLOGY," a series of new-generation powertrain technologies that realizes both driving performance and fuel economy at a high level, are both scheduled to go on sale in China this September. Honda will sequentially expand application of the EARTH DREAMS TECHNOLOGY to other models.
- With EARTH DREAMS TECHNOLOGY, Honda will aim to evolve the FUN performance, and at the same time, be at the forefront of complying with strict fuel economy requirements in China.
- Honda is preparing for local development, production and parts sourcing of hybrid models in China, which will result in more affordable prices. Honda is striving to begin local production of hybrid models within the next three years.
Safety Technologies
- Based on Honda's global safety slogan "Safety for Everyone," Honda will advance its safety technologies more and strive to realize an accident-free mobility society, including the active promotion of traffic safety education.
- Starting with the all-new Accord, advanced active safety and pre-collision safety technologies such as Collision Mitigation Braking System (CMBS)*1, Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC)*2, LaneWatch*3 and Active Cornering Lights*4 will be put to practical use. Application of these technologies will be sequentially expanded to other models.
Comfort Technologies
- The CRIDER (Chinese name: 凌派), scheduled to be launched this month, will be equipped with a display audio system that works in coordination with a smartphone to provide necessary information to ensure comfortable driving.
- HondaLink, Honda's telematics service which links vehicles, people and society to realize a safe, comfortable and low-carbon mobility society, is scheduled to be introduced in China within the next three years.
＜Strengthening Honda's business in China＞
- Honda will further advance its development structure in China so that the entire development process, from styling to design to testing, can be completed locally. In fact, new model development has already started in China. Honda will further strengthen its operation to deliver not only the most suitable products, but also the optimal core technologies such as powertrains appropriate for the Chinese market.
- The CRIDER was developed mainly by Chinese staffs as a specialized model for China, and the JADE was developed mainly for Chinese market. These new models will be launched this year.
- Honda is planning to introduce 12 new models before the end of 2015.
- Seiji Kuraishi, president of HMCI, commented;
"We are keen to deliver more pleasure to our customers in China by further advancing our products and technologies. By accelerating introduction of new technologies and localization of our research and development operations, we are aiming to achieve 1.3 million unit sales annually in the Chinese market before the end of 2015."
- *1The Collision Mitigation Braking System (CMBS) anticipates the risk of a collision based on various information such as driving conditions, distance from the vehicle in front and relative speed. When it anticipates the risk, CMBS alerts the driver to take preventive action and controls the brakes to reduce speed to effectively support collision avoidance and to mitigate injuries and vehicle damage in case of an accident.
- *2Using millimeter-wave radar, the Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) system adjusts the distance from the vehicle in front during the use of cruise control.
- *3LaneWatch blind-spot display uses a camera on the passenger mirror for an enhanced view of the passenger-side vehicle in driver's blind-spot.
- *4Active Cornering Lights are additional lights which automatically turn on when the vehicle is making turns during nighttime driving to provide enhanced illumination on the relevant side (inside of traveling direction).