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<\/a><\/p>\nBy Daniel Leussink<\/p>\n
TOKYO (Reuters) -Japan’s Honda Motor Co said on Wednesday it had struck a strategic collaboration agreement with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) as part of efforts to secure a stable supply of semiconductors.<\/p>\n
Japanese automakers have struggled to completely shake off the hit from tight global chip and parts supply during the pandemic, though constraints have eased.<\/p>\n
Honda will build direct relationships with chip producers for the long-term stable supply of chips, Chief Executive Toshihiro Mibe said at a news conference where he gave an update about the automaker’s business strategy.<\/p>\n
“Honda will work closely together with Tier 1 suppliers and semiconductor makers and move forward with drastic steps,” Mibe said, adding it had reached a basic agreement on strategic collaboration with TSMC.<\/p>\n
“In the past, there were probably almost no direct discussions between automakers, including Honda, and semiconductor manufacturers,” he said.<\/p>\n
The company expected to start seeing an impact from the tie-up with TSMC from the 2025 financial year, Chief Operating Officer Shinji Aoyama said. <\/p>\n
The deal included sharing information about production and parts supply with a focus on securing integrated circuits and other parts, he said.<\/p>\n
TSMC said in an emailed statement it was committed to serving as its customers “trusted long-term technology and capacity supplier to unleash their innovations”. <\/p>\n
“TSMC continues to work closely with major worldwide automobile IC companies to support their success,” it added, without elaborating.<\/p>\n
Honda also said it planned to release a mid- to large-size electric vehicle (EV) model in the United States in 2025 built with the company’s new “electric and electronic” architecture platform.<\/p>\n
It stuck to its aim of making EVs and fuel cells represent 100% of its vehicle sales by 2040, and said it planned to introduce four new EV models in Japan by 2026. <\/p>\n
The company is considering boosting revenue from EVs by charging for software and digital services, Mibe said.<\/p>\n
“I don’t think things are as simple as they used to be where we can just increase the number of units to grow profits,” said Mibe, without giving further details.<\/p>\n
(Reporting by Daniel Leussink; Additional reporting by Satoshi Sugiyama, and Ben Blanchard in Taipei; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman, Stephen Coates and Louise Heavens)<\/p>\n
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