• Honda is exploring cooperation with Huawei in the field of smart driving, and is expected to use the Chinese tech giant's solution on the Ye brand.
• The same model under the Ye brand could be offered in parallel in the future in variants with Honda Sensing 360+ and variants with Huawei's smart driving solution.

Japanese auto giant Honda is exploring collaboration with Huawei in the smart driving space and is expected to use the Chinese tech giant's smart driving solution on its Ye brand, local media outlet 36kr said in a report today, citing multiple sources.

The possibility of the same model under the Ye brand being offered in parallel with Honda Sensing 360+-equipped variants as well as variants with Huawei's smart driving solution cannot be ruled out, the report said, citing a source close to the matter.

Honda unveiled its new EV brand called Ye in China on April 6, 2024, its third brand in China targeting the EV market after e:N and Lingxi.

The new Ye brand would target the needs of Chinese customers and would build cars based on the all-electric Architecture W architecture, Honda said in April.

The Japanese automaker unveiled three new models at the time, the Ye P7, Ye S7, and Ye GT, saying that the first two were scheduled to go on sale by the end of 2024, while the third would go into production in 2025. The Ye P7 and Ye S7 have yet to be officially launched, however.

The Ye P7 and Ye S7's launches have been delayed until the first quarter of 2025 because the Ye brand's marketing, communications, and smart technologies haven't met the expectations of Honda's Japanese shareholders, 36kr's report said, citing an insider.

Autonomous driving technology is difficult to commercialize quickly due to regulations, which is one of the reasons why the Ye brand intends to carry Huawei's smart driving solution, the report said.

The Ye brand's supplier list includes CATL, Huawei, and iFlytek, the report said, adding that the brand's smart cockpit will feature AR-HUD-like display technology developed by Honda in collaboration with Huawei.

In China's new energy vehicle (NEV) market, many automotive brands are banking on using Huawei's technology for revitalization, the report noted.

With Huawei's smart driving solution, Honda can quickly boost its capabilities in the area of intelligence, the report said.

In the January-November period, Honda sold 740,399 vehicles in China, a year-on-year decrease of 30.7 percent, according to data compiled by CnEVPost. It has yet to announce its December sales in China.

The Japanese automaker is trying to get a slice of the Chinese NEV market, despite facing unprecedented competition from local EV makers.

On October 11 last year, Dongfeng Honda, Dongfeng's joint venture with Dongfeng Motor in China, saw its NEV plant in Wuhan, Hubei province, go into production, Honda's first NEV plant in the world.

On December 23, GAC Honda, Honda's joint venture with GAC Group, officially started production at its NEV plant in Guangzhou, Guangdong province in southern China.

Both plants are designed to have an annual capacity of 120,000 units.

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