Toronto, Ontario — In this weekly Tuesday Ticker, Honda considers what could reportedly be its largest-ever investment, while Rivian grapples with a double-edged sword.
Eyes on EVs
According to weekend reports from Japanese news outlets, Honda is considering an $18 billion investment to build a Canadian electric vehicle plant.
Reports came out on Sunday after Nikkei Asia said Honda is considering a Canadian vehicle plant with possible “in-house production of batteries”. Several sites are being considered, apparently, including locations near the automakers’ Alliston, Ont. plant.
Honda already has planned to mass produce batteries in Ohio, U.S., via a partnership with LG Energy Solution. According to the report from Nikkei Asia, Honda would operate alone if it created a plant in Canada.
Honda is looking at several potential sites, including next to an existing automobile factory in the province of Ontario. It expects to decide by the end of 2024, with the new facility to go onstream as early as 2028.https://t.co/iYV4V10kYL
— Nikkei Asia (@NikkeiAsia) January 8, 2024
Honda aims for 40 percent of its North American vehicle sales to be electric by 2030; by 2035, the automaker wants 80 percent of North American vehicle sales to be zero-emissions.
A spokesperson for Honda did confirm the automaker is seeking initiatives to increase EV production, but did not comment on the reports of a Canadian facility.
Ramped up production; dwindled deliveries
Rivian was able to produce 75 percent more EVs in Q4 2023 than it did in Q4 2022, according to the OEM’s Q4 and year-end 2023 financial results.
Rivian produced 17,541 vehicles in Q4 2023, breaking its production records for the third straight quarter.
Vehicle deliveries for Q4, while up 73 percent year-over-year, were still lower than Q3 2023 numbers.
In 2023, Rivian produced more than 57,000 units and delivered more than 50,000 vehicles.
As of Monday at 10:30 a.m. ET, shares of Rivian traded at US$19.20 per share, up 15.52 percent year-over-year.
