Honda Motor (China) Investment Co., Ltd., a wholly-owned Honda subsidiary in China, has established Hynex Mobility Service Co., Ltd., a new joint venture company with Neusoft Reach Automotive Technology (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. Hynex Mobility Service will strive to advance connected services and offer new value users can enjoy through their connected experiences, while placing the primary focus on Honda CONNECT, Honda’s on-board connected system.

Headquartered in Dalian, Liaoning Province, Hynex Mobility Service is scheduled to begin operations on 1 July 2020.

Honda has been accelerating advancements in the areas of electrification and ICV (Intelligent Connected Vehicles). In the area of connected services, Honda is positioning Honda CONNECT as an important platform which is indispensable in increasing the value of mobility in the future.

As a part of its vision for advancing technologies for the next-generation Honda CONNECT, Honda is pursuing three concepts: more connection; personal assistant; and enabling the continuous “growth” of the vehicle through updates. With these concepts, Honda is striving to realize mobility products which will “grow” together with their users and become a realizable partner to their respective users.

For the early realization of such a future vision, Honda established Hynex Mobility Service jointly with Neusoft Reach.

The joint venture partner, Neusoft Reach, integrates new technologies such as AI and big data while leveraging its strength in the software area. Moreover, Neusoft Reach has been working to offer a broad range of intelligent products, technologies, services and solutions for next-generation automobiles in various areas including ICV, automated driving, automotive powertrains, mobility services and connected cyber security.

Honda said that Neusoft Reach is an indispensable local partner which will enable Honda to offer new value through connected services in China quickly while ensuring high quality.

Commenting on the news, Animesh Kumar, Director of Automotive Consulting at GlobalData, observed:

Honda has been quite ambitious about the next-gen mobility solutions and has paced up developments in the fields of electric vehicles, shared mobility and connected vehicles with key OEMs and tech giants. China is a key market for Honda, accounting for majority of its vehicle sales volume. Honda is the second most sold brand in China after Volkswagen. The company’s partnership with the local tech giant indicates its commitment to the market and will help Honda to strengthen its position across four key pillars of next-gen mobility i.e., connected, autonomous, shared and electric. The establishment of the venture is a right move in the direction to achieve Honda’s ‘Vision 2030’ that emphasises on development of technologies for mobility products.

Hynex Mobility Service is an extention to the already existing partnership between Honda and Neusoft. Both the companies partnered in 2017 for the development of a ‘China-only electric vehicle’ and later expanded their partnership for car sharing business in China. Honda holds 10% stake in Neusoft’s car sharing business ‘Reachstar’.

Neusoft is a key local companion to Honda which will help it to offer new value through connected services in China. Hynex Mobility Service will develop services and technologies leveraging the individual expertise and resources of both companies. Apart from strengthening the existing connected platform Honda CONNECT, Hynex will enable Honda to develop related technologies and services through the utilization of Neusoft’s artificial intelligence (AI) and big data analysis to achieve its next-gen mobility ambitions.