Inside Honda's Plan to Keep Cars Affordable Without Squeezing Buyers

Honda is betting it can keep cars affordable without asking buyers to absorb rising development and production costs. In comments to The Drive, Noriya Kaihara, Honda’s executive vice president, outlined “Triple Half” work aimed at cutting development time, costs, and resources by half, with faster responses to changing market conditions. Honda said the plan begins this year for “minor model change” initiatives, while full model changes roll out in 2028. The automaker also targets roughly a 20% production-efficiency improvement over the next five years. Honda plans to use AI to supplement crash testing and other validation work to reduce time and resources.