Tokyo  - The Japanese car maker Honda has announced that it will develop an electric motorcycle as part of its programme to develop more efficient vehicles with lower emissions over the next two years.

Details of the plans have not been revealed yet, but the motorcycle is expected to go on sale in 2010. Vectrix Corp., based in the United States, claims to be the world leader in zero emission electric scooters and high-performance bikes, building its Electric Vx1 and Vx1e scooters in Poland.

Reacting to estimates that the car maker will for this year see a nearly 70 per cent plunge in earnings to 1.6 billion euros (2.2 billion dollars), Honda CEO Takeo Fukui said the car maker will focus resources on developing small, diesel engines and boosting production of electric engines for hybrid vehicles.

Honda earlier took the motor sport world by surprise by withdrawing from Formula 1 racing as part of its cost-cutting measures in response to the sharp downturn in sales.

In another development, the car maker said it had reached an agreement with GS Yuasa Corporation on a joint venture in manufacturing and selling high-performance lithium-ion batteries for the next generation of hybrid vehicles.

Honda is considering adapting hybrid technology for medium and premium class models. (dpa)