International Organization of Motor Vehicle Manufacturers

Honda to restructure China business after over 2 years of talks

Nikkei – SHIZUKA TANABE – December 2, 2025, 07:28 JST

Honda is restructuring its China engine operations as demand for gasoline engines declines and key joint-venture contracts approach expiration. After more than two years of negotiation, Dongfeng Motor Group has agreed to sell its 50% stake in Dongfeng Honda Engine, which GAC Honda will acquire and then convert into a wholly owned subsidiary by year-end. The move ends a long-running rift between Dongfeng Honda Engine and GAC Honda over pricing and profit allocation, while enabling Honda to consolidate engine operations, improve transparency, and streamline costs ahead of major strategic decisions due in 2028, when its GAC Honda finished-vehicle venture comes up for renewal. Honda’s engine JV with Dongfeng has been losing money—posting a net loss of 227 million yuan in 2024—as China’s market shifts rapidly toward EVs and plug-in hybrids. Honda pushed Dongfeng to exit the JV starting in 2023, and worsening market conditions eventually led to agreement. The restructuring is intended to strengthen Honda’s position before renegotiating its broader China partnerships. However, uncertainty remains: Honda’s sales in China fell 20% in the first ten months of 2025 to 520,000 units, far below its peak of over 1.5 million annually from 2019–2021, leaving its post-2028 strategy still undecided. https://asia.nikkei.com/business/companies/honda-to-restructure-china-business-after-over-2-years-of-talks

Chinese EV makers like BYD seen gaining from new UK pay-per-mile tax

Nikkei – CARLA MESSINGER – December 2, 2025, 10:45 JST

The U.K. government’s new budget introduces a pay-per-mile tax on electric vehicles—3 pence per mile for EVs and 1.5 pence for plug-in hybrids starting in April 2028—on top of the road tax imposed earlier this year, raising concerns that higher ownership costs will push consumers toward cheaper Chinese models such as BYD’s Dolphin Surf. Analysts warn the measure could weaken European brands’ competitiveness, with the Office for Budget Responsibility estimating it may reduce EV sales by 440,000 units. Despite announcing £1.3 billion in additional funding for the electric car grant scheme, only four models qualify for the maximum £3,750 subsidy, and even the cheapest eligible option remains significantly pricier than Chinese alternatives. Industry figures argue the U.K. needs more incentives, not additional costs, to support its 2030 phase-out of petrol and diesel cars. Chinese brands—already holding an 11.8% market share and benefiting from state support—face no U.K. import tariffs, unlike in the EU, making the market highly attractive and increasingly exposed to surging imports. BYD’s rapid growth and speculation about potential Chinese EV production in the U.K. highlight growing pressure on local and European manufacturers to respond. https://asia.nikkei.com/business/automobiles/electric-vehicles/chinese-ev-makers-like-byd-seen-gaining-from-new-uk-pay-per-mile-tax

India’s CAFE targets are ‘unscientific’ for small cars without relaxation: Maruti Suzuki

ET Auto – Kriti Saraiya – Dec 1, 2025, at 10:46 PM IST

India’s debate over whether small cars should receive relaxed CO₂ limits under upcoming CAFE 3 regulations is intensifying, with Maruti Suzuki arguing that without such flexibility the proposed targets become “unscientific” for compact, low-emission models. The draft CAFE-3 norms, issued by the Bureau of Energy Efficiency for 2027-28 onward, introduce a revised 909-kg weight threshold that allows lighter cars a 3-gram CO₂ relaxation—an adjustment Maruti emphasizes was created by regulators, not requested by the company. Rival OEMs such as Tata Motors and Mahindra, whose portfolios are dominated by heavier SUVs, oppose weight-based carve-outs, claiming they create unfair advantages. Maruti counters that nearly all major global markets—including Europe, China, the U.S., Japan and Korea—use structured relaxations for small vehicles, and warns that removing weight criteria would force discontinuation of India’s most affordable low-emission cars, despite strong demand and a 37% surge in Maruti’s small-car sales last month. Tata’s leadership maintains that CAFE rules are designed to push OEMs toward greener technologies across their fleets, regardless of vehicle size. As the government prepares to finalize the next phase of CAFE norms, the industry remains sharply divided over how to balance emissions goals with affordability and the future of India’s compact-car market. https://auto.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/passenger-vehicle/maruti-suzuki-warns-against-unrealistic-cafe-targets-for-small-cars/125696128

How Volvo intends to create the SDV with the assistance of Google

Automobilwoche – Michael Knauer – December 1, 2025, 12:00 PM

Volvo Cars views the upcoming EX60 and its debut on the new SPA3 platform as one of the most significant development milestones in its modern history, marking a complete reinvention of how the company designs vehicles. According to development chief Anders Bell, SPA3 and EX60 were engineered from scratch as uncompromising, fully electric, software-defined vehicles, enabling faster, more robust, and more cost-efficient development across all future models. Safety remains the core priority: continuous connectivity and Volvo’s extensive historical driving-data archive will allow major advancements in active safety over time. Bell stressed that true EV efficiency requires breaking free from legacy combustion-engine constraints, a lesson strengthened by delays experienced with the EX90 and ES90. The EX60, to be unveiled in January, finally meets Volvo’s full SDV ambitions—something many competitors have yet to achieve. A key enabler has been Volvo’s deep partnership with Google, integrating Android and now Google’s AI system Gemini, enhancing voice interaction and in-car intelligence. Earlier work with Zenuity also laid essential groundwork. Bell expects SDV principles to reshape global automotive development, requiring deeper collaboration with suppliers and faster iteration cycles—an area where Chinese manufacturers currently move quicker than European peers. https://www.automobilwoche.de/autohersteller/volvo/amw-volvo-sdv-entwicklungschef-anders-bell/

Power failure: What’s causing massive engine recalls

Automotive News – Richard Truett – December 01, 2025, 07:00 AM EST

Modern engines’ push for higher efficiency, lower emissions and greater power density has made them far less tolerant of manufacturing imperfections, helping trigger recalls or investigations involving more than 5 million engines from five major automakers. Unlike older, larger engines that used thicker oils and could tolerate minor machining errors, today’s downsized, hotter-running, high-pressure engines rely on extremely tight tolerances and ultrathin oil films—making them vulnerable to microscopic metal particles (“swarf”), improper machining and contamination. Thinner oils, tougher bearing materials and higher operating loads mean even tiny debris can cause catastrophic failures such as bearing wear, connecting rod seizure or engine lockup. GM, Toyota, Hyundai, Honda, Ford and Stellantis face massive repair bills, class-action lawsuits and significant brand damage, with individual automakers spending from hundreds of millions to over $5 billion on engine replacements, inspections and extended warranties. Dealership service bays are overwhelmed by labor-intensive engine replacements that disrupt operations and frustrate customers, eroding loyalty. Automakers are tightening manufacturing controls, boosting inspections and switching to thicker oils in some recalled engines, while acknowledging that lessons from recent failures must guide future engine designs. Experts warn that the industry’s move toward thinner oils and higher-stress engines has made perfect machining and contamination-free assembly more critical than ever. https://www.autonews.com/manufacturing/an-spiraling-engine-defects-1201/

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François ROUDIER

Secretary General

OICA