First came Honda and GM -- now comes Honda and Sony.
Hot on the heels of the April Honda-GM announcement to jointly develop affordable EVs, comes news that Honda is partnering up with technology giant Sony on a separate EV venture. The two companies say they plan to build "high-value-added electric vehicles (EVs) to provide services for mobility" with plans to launch their first EV in 2025 under the name Sony Honda Mobility Inc.
The companies say the partnership will combine Honda’s environmental and safety technologies, mobility development capabilities, vehicle body manufacturing technology and after-sales service management experience, with Sony’s expertise in the development and application of imaging, sensing, telecommunication, network and entertainment technologies.
The new joint company will be established sometime this year pending relevant regulatory approvals. The plan is start EV and provision of services for mobility in 2025.
Sony has been developing EV's for awhile now. It's been working on a VISION-S lineup of vehicles and debuted a new SUV prototype at this year's Consumer Electronics show. The Sony Vision-S 01 prototype is pictured above.
Comment from Kenichiro Yoshida, Representative Corporate Executive Officer, Chairman, President and CEO, Sony Group Corporation
“Based on our vision to ‘make the mobility space an emotional one,’ Sony’s initiatives in the mobility business are centered around the three areas of safety, entertainment and adaptability. As we continue our learnings in these areas, we are excited to have met a partner, Honda, with extensive global achievements and knowledge, and to sign the joint venture agreement between the two companies. Going forward, we aim to contribute to the evolution of mobility by combining Honda’s cutting-edge environmental and safety technologies, mobility development capabilities, vehicle body manufacturing technology and after-sales service management experience, with our expertise in imaging, sensing, telecommunication, network and entertainment technologies.”
Comment from Toshihiro Mibe, Director, President, Representative Executive Officer and CEO, Honda Motor Co., Ltd.
“Honda continues to take on new challenges in the environmental, safety, and other advanced fields in order to be a driving force for social change through mobility, and ‘become the power that supports people around the world who are trying to do things based on their own initiative.’ We are very pleased to have signed a joint venture agreement with Sony, which has strengths in advanced digital technology, and shares our desire to take on new challenges. Since its announcement in March, many people have expressed their expectations for this joint venture. At the new company, we will strive to create new value through the fusion brought about by the combination of our different industries, so please look forward to future developments.”
Honda and GM
Honda is also partnering with GM to develop a series of affordable EVs. The automakers say they're working together to enable global production of millions of EVs starting in 2027. Read more about those plans here.
Honda's first EV the Prologue SUV is due out in 2024. It's also being co-developed with GM but not part of the recently announced EV Series.
