Honda Motor Co (NYSE:HMC) (TYO:7267) said Wednesday that the Japanese automaker had struck a strategic collaboration agreement with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (NYSE:TSM) (TW:2330) as part of efforts to secure a stable supply of semiconductors.
Honda will build direct relationships with chip producers for the long-term stable supply of chips, chief executive Toshihiro Mibe said at a news conference where he gave an update about the automaker's business strategy.
"Honda will work closely together with Tier 1 suppliers and semiconductor makers and move forward with drastic steps," Mibe said, adding it had reached a basic agreement on strategic collaboration with TSMC.
"In the past, there were probably almost no direct discussions between automakers, including Honda, and semiconductor manufacturers," he said.
The company expects to start seeing an impact from the tie-up with TSMC from the 2025 financial year, chief operating officer Shinji Aoyama said.
TSMC said in an emailed statement it was committed to serving as its customers "trusted long-term technology and capacity supplier to unleash their innovations".
"TSMC continues to work closely with major worldwide automobile IC companies to support their success," it added, without elaborating.
Honda also said it planned to release a mid- to large-size electric vehicle (EV) model in the United States in 2025 built with the company's new "electric and electronic" architecture platform.
Shares of HMC are down 0.66% in premarket trading on Wednesday.