Honda is currently in the process of overhauling its entire product roadmap. It comes after the Japanese automaker posted its first annual loss since its founding in 1948.

After shelving several planned electric vehicle programs and accelerating cost-cutting efforts as it grapples with heavy financial losses, Honda is now looking to fast track the development of its next-generation vehicles to speed up its recovery.

With that said, Honda has tapped the services of Indian engineering and IT giant Tata Technologies to develop a future EV and hybrid platform, according to Nikkei Asia.

Tata Technologies provides engineering and digital services to automotive, aerospace and industrial clients, and is owned by the same conglomerate that owns Jaguar Land Rover (Tata Group). 

Based on available reports, Tata Technologies is expected to undertake an end-to-end development of a new platform that’s designed to support multiple powertrain options, which include traditional ICE, hybrid, and battery electric vehicles.

By outsourcing vehicle development work to Tata Technologies, this can shorten development cycles and lower costs for Honda’s end. This is a strategy that’s being increasingly popular in the automotive industry, with Mitsubishi being the most recent example in outsourcing its EVs through Foxtron.

This decision also marks a significant change in operations for Honda, which has historically kept its core engineering and platform development in-house or strictly within its legacy supplier network.

Currently, both parties are yet to comment on which specific models and target markets are getting the Tata Technologies-developed vehicle platform. However, the timing aligns with Honda’s plans to introduce models tailored for the Indian market starting in 2028, which could include subcompact models and up to midsize categories.

Likewise, this development also reinforces Honda’s plan to expand India’s role as a manufacturing and export hub for vehicles bound for Latin America and Southeast Asian markets.