Summary of Honda Meeting 2019
July 4, 2019, Japan
TOKYO, Japan, July 4, 2019 – Honda Motor Co., Ltd. today held a press meeting (Honda Meeting 2019) to discuss the future direction of Honda technology development toward the fulfillment of Honda’s 2030 Vision, which defines the future direction of Honda.
<Direction of technology development toward the 2030 Vision>
- In order to overcome the rapid changes in today’s business environment, we have been pursuing our 2030 Vision – “to serve people worldwide with the joy of expanding their life’s potential.”
- In pursuit of the 2030 Vision, Honda will innovate technology for both our mobility products and other areas such as energy and robotics. By leveraging these technologies, Honda will create original values unique to Honda.
- Through our motorcycle, automobile, life creation and aviation businesses, Honda comes in contact with 32 million customers a year. By fully leveraging this and also by creating new-value technologies more efficiently through various alliances, Honda will establish an “ecosystem” with energy flowing among electrified mobility products and energy services.
- Honda will create new value for the customer by advancing mobility and people’s daily lives through this ecosystem that expands the use of renewable energy.
Key initiatives toward fulfilling the 2030 Vision
- Carbon-free technologies
- In order to contribute to achieving a zero carbon society, Honda is striving to provide the joy and freedom of mobility while focusing on the challenge to achieve zero CO2 emissions.
- As required powertrains are different from region to region and are becoming further diversified depending on infrastructure, regulations and customer needs in each region, Honda will deliver the most appropriate products to our customers based on the idea of placing the right products, in the right places at the right time.
- Honda will expand the application of our i-MMD two-motor hybrid system from large to-mid-sized vehicles, to our small-sized vehicles, as well as to PHEVs and evolve it as the core of our electrification technologies. Moreover, by applying our high-voltage system technologies to PHEVs, BEVs and FCVs, Honda will upgrade the performance of these electrified vehicles as well.
- Regarding BEVs, we will introduce the BEV Architecture which will enable the sharing of the basic framework for our vehicles. While increasing the efficiency of development and parts-sharing, the BEV Architecture will enable flexible product development, including body design, adoption of battery types to accommodate the desired EV range and whether to employ an all-wheel drive system.
- Collision-free technologies
- What Honda is pursuing with its safety technologies is to provide “safety for everyone” and new joys of mobility that stimulate people to enjoy their lives.
- Our primary focus is to enhance the functions of the Honda Sensing suite of safety and driver-assistive technologies. We will further improve the performance of Honda Sensing by continuing to apply new technologies we obtain through our research of automated driving. In addition, for Honda vehicles already in the market without Honda Sensing, we are developing a retrofit kit for the function that will prevent pedal misapplication.
- eMaaS/Connected technologies
- Honda has established a new term, Honda eMaaS, to represent technologies and services through which Honda will strive to bring change to where mobility and people’s daily lives are connected seamlessly between electrified mobility and energy technologies and services through connected technologies.
- Honda has been developing energy technologies and services such as the Smart Hydrogen Station (SHS), Power Export 9000 portable external power output device and Honda Mobile Power Pack detachable mobile battery, which enable our customers to use electricity in more environmentally-responsible and smarter ways.
- By creating such a seamlessly connected world, we will offer people the freedom of mobility, and at the same time, we will strive to expand renewable energy use and a carbon-free society.
<Changes made to our R&D operations>
In order to respond to the rapid changes in today’s business environment, Honda initiated organizational changes to its R&D operations in April 2019. We defined two major areas of R&D focus and made their respective roles clear. One is innovative research which will focus on creating new values for the future with out-of-the-box thinking. The other is product development for existing businesses which will coordinate with business operations and create better and original values unique to Honda in an efficient manner.
With this new R&D structure, Honda will continue more proactively and in a timely manner to pursue the creation of new values for mobility and people’s daily lives, to deliver more attractive products to our customers.