Honda has a special plan to shift to top gear in electric vehicle race

Honda Motor Co. is looking may be a bit behind the curve when it comes to electric mobility but the Japanese automotive giant plans to leap forward in the times to come. To this end, Honda has announced it will create a new division focused on electrification development.

Honda has outlined the organisational change under three broad structures - creation of electrification business development operations, reorganisation of regional operations and reorganisation of corporate functions. The first of these three is, perhaps, the most crucial. Honda says this operation will consolidate the business strategy and BEV product development functions of automobile business and electrification-related strategy and development functions of motorcycle and power products businesses.

The existing six regional operations will also be streamlined into three regional operations - North America, China and Associated Regions. Associated Regions will combine the four regional operations - Japan, Asia & Oceania - this includes India, South America and Europe.

Previously, the company had announced it plans to build three dedicated platforms for electric vehicles in partnership with General Motor by 2030. It also plans to build and sell millions of electric cars by the end of this decade. At present, Honda does offer plug-in hybrid models in select markets and Honda-e, its fully-electric compact car. But the race is really on in a fast-evolving automobile market where traditional manufacturers are stepping out of comfort zones to make the most of the predicted shift towards EVs the world over. Tesla is in the lead- and by a fair distance, but companies like Hyundai, Kia, Mercedes, Audi, GM, Ford, Toyota and even several local Chinese players are out and about to stake claim.

China is the world's biggest automotive market as well as largest EV market, followed by the US and select European countries.