Finally, Honda is working on a new V6 turbodiesel engine for the USA market sometime after the 2007 mandates of low sulfur gas take place. The engine will be used in the Ridgeline and Pilot SUV

TOKYO -- Honda Motor Co. could build a V8 engine as its next mass-produced powertrain beyond the V6, its biggest engine so far, Chief Executive President Takeo Fukui said, adding that a decision would be made in about three years.

Japan's third-biggest auto maker has long said it would not build a V8 engine, often used to power pickup trucks and other bigger vehicles, choosing instead to match its muscle with advanced powertrain technology as it did with the Ridgeline pickup launched in the United States this year.

"By around 2010, customers driving the Ridgeline now will need a stepped-up product," Fukui told a small group of reporters on Thursday. He said a V8 engine was one possible powertrain, along with a V6 hybrid or diesel system.

Last month, Honda, renowned for its engine technology, surprised industry watchers with plans to skip the V8 and develop a V10 engine to power its next supercar to succeed the NSX model, which will be retired this year.

If development of the V10 engine is successful, Fukui said there would be "no reason not to have something in between", while stressing the decision was not final.

"If we make a V10, we might just as well make a V8. I won't deny the possibility," Fukui said at Honda's headquarters in Tokyo. "We'll see how the V10 turns out, and make a decision in about three years' time."

Pickups, sport utility vehicles and other light trucks make up a little over half of the U.S. auto market -- the world's biggest -- and so far has been dominated by the U.S. Big Three.

Japanese rivals Toyota Motor Corp. and Nissan Motor Co. have pushed aggressively into the profitable segment, but Honda has been relatively slow, having only rolled out its first pickup truck through the Ridgeline this spring.

Fukui said he expected the ratio of light trucks to Honda's total U.S. sales to inch closer to industry levels from around 40 percent now, while also beefing up its car segment through the new Civic due out in autumn and the Fit compact car to be launched next year.

TOKYO (Reuters) -- The head of Honda Motor Co. said he is open to working with General Motors in various areas including fuel-cell development as a means of gleaning its rival's expertise in the U.S. regulatory and political fields.

"The door is open," Chief Executive Takeo Fukui told reporters on Thursday.

"They haven't approached us (about working together on fuel-cell technology), but if they did we'd seriously consider it," he said, while admitting that was unlikely given GM's broad tie-up agreement with Toyota Motor Corp. in the field.

Honda, Japan's third-biggest auto maker, is known for eschewing alliances on research and development, having produced both a hybrid and fuel-cell vehicle without the help of other auto makers.

That policy remains unchanged, Fukui said. But he said Honda could share information with GM, and in return benefit from the U.S. giant's knowledge at the political and regulatory levels -- useful when it comes to lobbying activities, for instance.

"We don't rely on other auto makers to develop vehicle technology," Fukui said, adding that Honda leads the industry in fuel-cell vehicles.

"But we think it would be nice to have more contact with GM, whether it be in fuel cells, recycling or other areas, and I think that view is mutual.

"For us, having a channel of communication with the world's biggest auto maker would help -- there's a lot of information to be gained," he said.

That was the rationale behind an agreement the two auto makers signed in 2000 under which Honda would supply a small number of V6 engines to GM, Fukui said. Honda began supplying the engines for GM's Saturn Vue model in August 2003, with volume reaching 87,000 in 2004.

Fukui said he sometimes meets with GM CEO Rick Wagoner but new forms of cooperation are slow in coming.