Honda scraps go-it-alone strategy for safer shift toward EVs

Honda Motor Co. long eschewed big strategic alliances, preferring to go it alone even as many of its carmaking peers banded together to improve economies of scale. That's changing now that the Japanese automaker is shifting more aggressively to electric vehicles. "It will be extremely risky for Honda to push the move alone," Chief Executive Officer Toshihiro Mibe said in an interview Tuesday. "It's meaningful to form alliances, mass-produce and lower costs to make our business sustainable." As the world's largest manufacturer of engines, Honda is uniquely exposed to risks posed by combustion falling out of favor around the globe.