Japan's Honda Motor Co Ltd (7267.T) will buy a 1% stake in Chinese electric vehicle (EV) battery maker Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL) (300750.SZ) and the two will jointly develop EV batteries, the companies said on Friday.
The move comes at a time when auto manufacturers and EV battery makers are joining forces in pursuit of an electric future. CATL, based in Ningde, said last year it would develop batteries with Honda and also supply batteries to Tesla (TSLA.O), Toyota (7203.T) and Volkswagen AG (VOWG_p.DE).
Honda and CATL said in a statement they would develop battery technologies and research a battery recycling business. Honda will launch its first EV with CATL's battery in China in 2022 and will expand the partnership with stable EV battery supply globally in the future.