GM and Honda Bigger North American Alliance - to share vehicle platforms, R&D, purchasing, and connected services

Greaser · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

GM and Honda Bigger North American Alliance - to share vehicle platforms, R&D, purchasing, and connected services

CdnGMfan · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

Remember when GM was the world leader?

The reality is they have to pool resources. Crash testing, emissions testing, recycle-ability all take away resources from the original car concepts and place constraints on what can be built and how soon. Sharing platforms between companies has been a forgone conclusion for decades now because of this alone. Saab-GM. Honda had a joint venture with Rover in the 80s to create a car line called the Stirling. They weren't sold here but were in the States. Peugeot, Volvo & Renault all shared development of an OHC V6 in the latter-70s. The Renault Alliance was another joint venture between Renault & cash-strapped AMC. GM-Suzuki joint venture with the Chevrolet/Pontiac/Geo/Asuna Tracker was done 30+ years ago.

Did you know that Nissan built arch-rival Toyota's flagship 2000 GT in the late 1960's? Once that was over, Nissan brought out their own 2-seater enclosed sports car, the Datsun 240-Z.

Anyway this GM-Honda alliance is a big deal. I wonder who's product lines will dominate? Will there be a fundamental change in the way the company is run? GM had awards for the production of vehicles in Oshawa but that is all water under the bridge now that it has been shut down. Here in Ontario GM, Ford, Chrysler & AMC all were built here.

The automotive business is changing.... So are the consumers. Remember the 1971 Chevelle advertising slogan? "You've changed. So we've changed."

Personally I think the automotive giants are shaking in their boots when they see the meteoric rise in valuation of Tesla. It may be way overstated, but then again it may be the end of an era and the dawning of a new era.

MC · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

CdnGMfan wrote:
Remember when GM was the world leader?
The reality is they have to pool resources. Crash testing, emissions testing, recycle-ability all take away resources from the original car concepts and place constraints on what can be built and how soon. Sharing platforms between companies has been a forgone conclusion for decades now because of this alone. Saab-GM. Honda had a joint venture with Rover in the 80s to create a car line called the Stirling. They weren't sold here but were in the States. Peugeot, Volvo & Renault all shared development of an OHC V6 in the latter-70s. The Renault Alliance was another joint venture between Renault & cash-strapped AMC. GM-Suzuki joint venture with the Chevrolet/Pontiac/Geo/Asuna Tracker was done 30+ years ago.

Did you know that Nissan built arch-rival Toyota's flagship 2000 GT in the late 1960's? Once that was over, Nissan brought out their own 2-seater enclosed sports car, the Datsun 240-Z.

Anyway this GM-Honda alliance is a big deal. I wonder who's product lines will dominate? Will there be a fundamental change in the way the company is run? GM had awards for the production of vehicles in Oshawa but that is all water under the bridge now that it has been shut down. Here in Ontario GM, Ford, Chrysler & AMC all were built here.

The automotive business is changing.... So are the consumers. Remember the 1971 Chevelle advertising slogan? "You've changed. So we've changed."
Personally I think the automotive giants are shaking in their boots when they see the meteoric rise in valuation of Tesla. It may be way overstated, but then again it may be the end of an era and the dawning of a new era.

I don't think this is about Tesla so much. But you're right, things are changing. I recall being a kid and thinking that GM was pretty much indestructible, like the largest most powerful company in the world. Fast forward to 2008, and the government's bailing them out to keep them from going bankrupt. Everything changes.

A post-Covid financial environment is likely on everybody's mind more than anything. Just a few short months and look how so much has changed! The world political climate is also more unstable now than it has been in decades...

long stroke · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

The once mighty GENERAL has fallen and very sadly so. GM had a very good and long run and now it is over. GM was the biggest boy on the block from the 1920's to the 1990's and now it is just a very distant memory.

gparis7 · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

As Cam notes, this is a well established playbook for US manufacturers going back to the 70s; not surprising that it still works, as technology advances, and the stability of the economy is in question.

MC · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

In actuality, this should probably help to improve things for GM. Maybe they will be able to build quality cars on a budget again, rather than relying on trucks and SUVs to pull them through... Let's hope so anyhow.

gparis7 · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

MC wrote:
In actuality, this should probably help to improve things for GM. Maybe they will be able to build quality cars on a budget again, rather than relying on trucks and SUVs to pull them through... Let's hope so anyhow.

I hope so. I have been very disappointed with the car offerings from GM these past 10 or more years. The only domestic manufacturer that got me excited since the turn of the millennium has been Chrysler, with the short lived Dodge Magnum RT hemi (one of which I had when new), the Chrysler 300 hemi, and the comparable Charger RT sedans, as well as the hemi-powered cars that were ushered in subsequently. And I like the current versions of the Mustang GT and their variations. The Camaro might have worked for me too if it were not for the styling, which in my opinion was a big miss for GM. I know many like them but for me, I'll take my Camaro pre-1982.

long stroke · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

I can understand why GM would want to partner up with Honda, but why would Honda want anything to do with GM.That i do not understand in any way. Maybe Honda is in not as good a shape as you would think.

MC · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

One would ask themselves 'what were they thinking'... but from the article it sounds like they are wanting to take advantage of economies of scale. GM is huge, and has much buying power, Honda is smaller and has a high level of technical expertise, so there would be apparent benefits to both. GM has never seemed to master the ability to make high quality smaller cars and be profitable from it, and Honda doesn't have a real truck - so there are a couple advantages one could see coming from the collaboration. Then there's the whole idea of sharing expertise in the electric car world, which seems to be on the brink of a breakout.

Either way, it should be interesting to watch.

gparis7 · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

MC wrote:
One would ask themselves 'what were they thinking'... but from the article it sounds like they are wanting to take advantage of economies of scale. GM is huge, and has much buying power, Honda is smaller and has a high level of technical expertise, so there would be apparent benefits to both. GM has never seemed to master the ability to make high quality smaller cars and be profitable from it, and Honda doesn't have a real truck - so there are a couple advantages one could see coming from the collaboration. Then there's the whole idea of sharing expertise in the electric car world, which seems to be on the brink of a breakout.
Either way, it should be interesting to watch.

Can't disagree with you on GM and small cars. How many different models have they had? And how long did they last (think failed Vega, a very attractive small car that was plagued by engine problems and lasted maybe 8-9 years as a platform)? And how many have been done in collaboration with other manufacturers?

Latterly the Saturns were GM-UK Vauxhalls, but GM killed Saturn so I have to think that didn't work.

For a time some of the Chevy small cars were rebadged Suzuki models - before Suzuki dropped out of the Canadian market.

I thought GM might have been on a little streak in the 90s and early 2000s with their own reasonably good front wheel drive platforms but those platforms seem to have been fully displaced by crossovers and SUVs now. Maybe by hooking up with one of the more successful Asian manufacturers GM can overcome it's deficit in cars.

Interesting to watch indeed.