Everyone’s feeling the pinch when it comes to living costs nowadays, and it doesn’t matter whether you’re buying milk or a new ride. With modern cars becoming more complex, packing more technology than ever, and sometimes being subject to steep tariffs, prices have soared in recent years, often putting them out of reach of average consumers. Naturally, volume automakers like Honda are exploring various ways to reduce costs and improve efficiency wherever possible.
In a recent conversation with The Drive, Noriya Kaihara, Executive Vice President of Honda Motor Company, went into detail about these strategies. Some of them seem somewhat obvious, such as reducing manufacturing complexities, streamlining product portfolios, and reducing time-to-market, but others are more unique.
“Affordability is the key for future customers, especially younger generations,” Kaihara told The Drive. “We are currently working on various projects, including the “Triple Half” activities. This means our development times will be cut in half, costs should also be cut in half, and overall resources will be too [hence the Triple Half name]. Doing this also means we can quickly react when market conditions change.”
In May, Honda announced that its Triple Half plan would take effect this year for “minor model change” initiatives, while full model changes would begin in 2028. Regardless, the company is looking to reduce development costs, timeframes, and workload by up to 50%. It also strives to improve production efficiency by about 20% over the next five years by efficiently “executing and allocating resource investments in new models and equipment.”
Kaihara also touched on how Honda plans to use AI to address the three key targets mentioned above, starting with crash testing, which is typically time-consuming and therefore very expensive. The move to deploy AI is simply to arrive at better-informed conclusions in less time and using fewer resources. It’s worth noting that this AI-led testing isn’t in place of the law-mandated testing and development, but supplemental. The more that can be done virtually ahead of a real-world test, the less time and money that will be spent in the long run.
“We’re utilizing AI on the development side of the business, specifically some of the testing technology, like crash tests and so forth,” added Kaihara. “For any of these procedures, we’ve already come to the fact that we can do them with AI without the actual [preliminary] test, so that would be of great impact for the development [of a model or technology].”
When asked about how Honda can remain competitive while offering cutting-edge hardware and software, Kaihara pointed to its current project in China, where the automaker is currently deploying teams to learn how to add efficiency.
“We are also working with the Chinese,” he said. “Within the auto industry, China is leading in terms of technology, I have to say, so we currently have teams in China, and they are working on studying their [manufacturing] technologies and learning sciences. Before, we [Japan] were teaching them how to make car parts and learn our techniques. Now, we are taking some of their know-how for our own development, especially in robotics that will be coming soon.
“Implementing these robotics in our factories will be another key to making many products more attractive from an affordability standpoint,” Kaihara continued. “But we have to be careful with this, because this is also a political issue, so we can’t simply use Chinese technologies in the U.S.—we don’t do it. So that means we have to learn but [draw a] clear cut between the U.S. and China, meaning we need to develop our own technologies.”
Earlier this year, Honda posted its first financial loss since 1957, with a roughly $2.7 billion operational deficit largely due to the axing of its global EV portfolio. However, the company will now reallocate its former EV budget to develop hybrid vehicles that better fit its global offerings. It’s currently working on a new two-motor hybrid system for upcoming models, including the Civic and Acura RDX.
American Honda CEO Eiji Fujimura backed up Kaihara’s comments, adding that affordability (and reliability) remain top of mind for Honda. He also expressed that affordability is often best represented in terms of value, not just by having the cheapest cars, adding that giving consumers what they want, need, and expect from Honda is paramount. This is currently seen in the brand’s entry-level models, like the Civic LX, which starts at $25,890 (including destination), the best-selling $28,000 Civic Sport I recently reviewed, and, on the Acura side, the Integra and ADX, which start at around $35,000.
“I’d like to add that affordability isn’t always about squeezing costs, but also offering great value to customers,” Fujimura told The Drive. ”The key here is value, which is why I’m always telling our leaders to think about [improving] value for money [on the company and consumer side].”
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