On April 16th, Honda Technology Research Industry (China) Investment Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as: Honda) held the launch of Honda China’s new electric brand with the theme of “inspiring authenticity”.
At this press conference, Honda officially launched a new electric brand “Ye” specifically for the Chinese market.
“Ye” brand three brand new models “Ye S7”, “Ye P7”, “Ye GT CONCEPT” global debut, among them, “Ye S7” and “Ye P7” are the first bullet models of “Ye” brand, and “Ye GT CONCEPT” is the second bullet model of “Ye” brand.
In the future, the Ye brand will launch a total of 6 models.
After the press conference, Honda’s two leaders, Igarashi Fumihiko Accord and Zhe Miyahara, also accepted exclusive interviews with some media, conveying the three core values of the “Ye” brand: “easier to drive”, “more interesting” and “more stylish”, emphasizing that they inherited the consistent car-building concepts such as Honda’s “MM concept” and “fun of manipulation”, and carried out the long-standing brand accumulation of high quality, safety and peace of mind.
As a brand-new brand launched specifically for the Chinese market, it demonstrates Honda’s importance to the Chinese market.
According to Igarashi Fumihiko, different from the current “eRanger N” brand based on the front-drive platform, the “Ye” brand adopts a newly developed rear-wheel drive and four-wheel drive platform, which is a new platform for a new generation of electric vehicles: intelligent and efficient pure electric “W” architecture.
Miyahara reiterated that Honda is making every effort to develop all-solid-state batteries and will carry new models for the period 2025-2030.
Honda will also open up cooperation to explore how to strengthen cooperation with Chinese suppliers in areas such as batteries and intelligence, so as to build better products based on the needs of domestic users.
The following is a record of an exclusive interview.
, Igarashi Fumihiko Accord, Executive Director of Honda Technology Research Industry Co., Ltd., General Manager of Honda Technology Research Industry (China) Investment Co., Ltd., General Manager of Honda Technology Research Technology (China) Co., Ltd., Tetsuya Miyahara, Executive Deputy General Manager of Honda Technology Research Industry (China) Investment Co., Ltd., Executive Deputy General Manager of Honda Technology (China) Co., Ltd. Q1 Media: may I ask Minister Igarashi Fumihiko Ben Why do you launch a new brand at this time? what is the difference between the new brand and the previous electrified “Honda 0” and eRV N? What does Honda expect from the new brand? What kind of cars will be put on the Chinese market in the future? Answer: Igarashi Fumihiko Accord, at present, all aspects of conditions are available and mature, so this is the time to launch a new brand.
The difference between the “eRom N” brand and the “Ye” brand is mainly due to the different platforms.
The “eSuzhou N” brand is based on the front-drive platform, which is mainly used in small and medium-sized cars to achieve the smart and fast driving performance of “human-vehicle integration”.
The “Ye” brand is oriented to the Chinese market and adopts a newly developed rear-wheel drive and four-wheel drive platform, which is a new platform for a new generation of electric vehicles: intelligent, efficient and pure electric “W” architecture.
The difference between “Ye” brand and “Honda 0”, first of all, “Ye” brand is a brand-new electric brand developed specifically for China, built by pooling Chinese resources and technology, inheriting the consistent car-building concepts such as Honda’s “MM concept” and “fun of manipulation”, and implementing the long-standing brand accumulation of high quality, safety and peace of mind.
“Honda 0” is a series with a global premise and will be launched in North America in 2026.
Before that, the “Ye” brand will be the first to be developed in China.
Q2 Media: I would like to ask Mr.
Igarashi Fumihiko, recently, Mercedes-Benz, Audi, Toyota and other car companies have questioned the development of electric vehicles.
Honda still insists on promoting the goal of “100% pure electricity sales by 2035”.
The launch of the new brand today also shows the courage of Honda.
It is understood that more than 200 new cars will be launched in China this year, and the fierce competition between Honda’s new brand and pure electricity strategy, how to promote and launch next? Do you have the confidence to find your place in such a very “volume” market like China? Answer: Igarashi Fumihiko Accord, from the characteristics of the Chinese market, there are particularly many emerging brands.
You mentioned that there will be more than 200 models on the market in 2024, but it is difficult for us to accurately verify this figure.
In view of the shrinking market share of fuel vehicles in China and the expansion of market share of new energy vehicles, Honda will take urgent measures to cope with the changes in the environment.
From the point of view of the management layer, Honda now has two strategies: the first is to quickly deal with the expansion of the market share of new energy vehicles.
the second is that the sales of fuel vehicles have dropped greatly, and we will consider whether to make adjustments in terms of productivity.
These are the two problems we are facing now and need to be solved.
Today, we released the “Ye” brand, and then we will face the market competition in the way of coexistence of two different brands and different platforms, eDrex N and Ye.
The press conference mentioned that the “Ye” brand will have six new models, which is the planning of the product camp, which will be combined with the launch time to add additional value in line with the positioning of these six new models.
To sum up, we should go all out to face the future and actively respond to the rapidly changing market environment.
Q3 Media: president Miyahara, it has just been discussed that the competition in the Chinese market is now very fierce.
in my opinion, the essence of the competition of new energy vehicles in China is the competition of core technologies, such as 800V high-voltage fast charging, high-level smart cars, CTB, battery architecture, etc.
, and even solid-state batteries are often mentioned.
But today’s press conference did not mention many technical details, how will Honda deal with the current atmosphere of “volume” technology in China? Are there any specific technical highlights of the “Ye” brand that you can introduce to us? Answer: Tetsuya Miyahara, now the competition for electric vehicles in China’s automobile market is very fierce, especially fast charging, batteries and so on.
OEM manufacturers in various fields are vigorously developing these advanced technologies.
Of course, Honda is also developing, and has its own ideas and promotion plans.
But in this process, we fully take into account that Honda’s car-building principle is: we must adhere to safety and quality, which is our unshakable concept.
On this basis, we will accelerate in a planned way.
In terms of solid-state batteries, we released content in 2022, and Honda is making every effort to develop all-solid-state batteries and will carry new models for the period 2025-2030.
Honda has fully realized that solid-state battery is a very important technology in the next generation of electric vehicles, and we will promote technology development and transportation based on the concept of “safety and peace of mind”.
Q4 Media: ask Mr.
Igarashi Fumihiko, currently in ChinaThe Chinese market already has the strongest electric technology and parts supply system in the world, and the major car companies around the world are also strengthening local R & D and investment one after another.
Honda’s new “Ye” brand uses several Chinese suppliers, can you tell me how to cooperate? How to use Chinese technology and resources to better empower new brands? Igarashi Fumihiko Accord: now China’s automobile industry, including suppliers, is indeed at the forefront of self-driving and intelligent technology.
As for autopilot, it will take some time to commercialize it because of the restrictions of laws and regulations.
In terms of intelligence, with China as the center, the current supplier technology is really very strong.
We cooperate with Chinese suppliers in different degrees and scope.
Today’s press conference mentioned that our cooperation with Huawei Lightfield screen, whether it is large or small car screen, the scope of cooperation is very wide.
For more specific content, please reply to Mr.
Miyahara.
Tetsuya Miyahara: let me add, first of all, the posture of Honda.
For these advanced technologies, Honda will actively cooperate with very excellent professional manufacturers in China.
In terms of batteries, we have joined hands with Ningde Times to carry out project development.
Ningde Times is a very powerful and famous manufacturer not only in China, but also in the world.
We will aim at the models launched in the Chinese market.
We will continue to develop and promote jointly.
In addition to batteries, there is also a very rapid development of self-driving technology in the Chinese market, and we have also launched discussions and cooperation.
Honda is the first time in the world to carry L3 technology on a vehicle, with basic self-driving technology.
We are also exploring how to choose better partners to expand self-driving together, and at the same time further strengthen and speed up to create better products based on the needs of users in the Chinese market.
Q5 Media: ask Mr.
Miyahara, the “W” architecture is specially developed for the Chinese market, what information can be shared behind R & D? What are the characteristics of this architecture compared to previous or competitor architectures? Honda now has some models going to Europe and Southeast Asia.
Are there any plans for these three new models to go out to sea, such as Southeast Asia or Japan? Answer: Tetsuya Miyahara, the “Ye” brand and “W” architecture we released today were developed by a young local team of Honda China Research Institute.
Honda is an accumulated automobile enterprise, which has been accumulating technology and experience in the field of automotive research and development, including the research and development of electric vehicles.
Honda takes the lead in the development of electric vehicles in the Chinese market all over the world, and the “Ye” brand is born based on this background.
“Ye” brand models have two ways of driving, one is rear-wheel drive, and the other is four-wheel drive.
As we all know, the electric car is very heavy because it carries a battery, so how can users experience a more light and comfortable driving experience when the weight is relatively high? Based on the long-term experience of automobile research and development, Honda has made a lot of efforts in automobile lightweight, through the integration of performance and architecture, while satisfying the heavy battery carrying and driving light pleasure.
It is a pity that there is no arrangement for you media friends to have a test drive today.
If you have the opportunity to follow up, please feel the lightness, comfort and sports of the new model.
With regard to export we have no export plan at present.
Of course, if the new model can be loved by consumers in the Chinese market, it will certainly become more and more popular all over the world.
Ending: Igarashi Fumihiko Accord, we realize that Honda is a little slow relative to the market in terms of the layout of the new energy product camp.
We hope to launch a new brand and platform today to accelerate the promotion of the electrification strategy.
Next, the “Ye” brand and the eRU N brand coexist, which is our sincere work, and we are full of confidence in it.
We will continue to work hard in the future, and we hope that you will support us.
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