Honda Motor Co. said Tuesday it will develop “connected cars” jointly with Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. to offer online services to drivers.

Together with the Chinese e-commerce giant, Japan’s third-largest automaker by volume will aim to launch online payments for fuel, parking and other services in China through the jointly developed vehicles.

Global automakers are focusing on connected cars with internet access to provide drivers with online payments, shared traffic information and other advanced services.

Honda is hoping to attract more customers in China, the world’s biggest auto market, through the tie-up.

In a similar joint operation, the Japanese carmaker and SoftBank Group Corp. said in November that they planned to develop connected cars that would provide drivers with a wide range of information, including on traffic conditions and nearby accidents.

The two companies aim to strengthen connected car technology by adopting speedier 5G for next-generation mobile communications.

KEYWORDS Internet, Honda, Alibaba