The Japanese electronic giant Sony and carmaker Honda team up as a joint venture to make and sell EVs, starting from its first model in 2025. The new company will begin sales from 2025 according to the announcement on Friday. This new venture will design, develop and sell EVs. It does not include owning or operating manufacturing facilities. Honda being car expertise, will be responsible for the manufacturing segment.
It’s unclear what that might look like at this point, but Sony is a key supplier of image sensors for smartphones and is increasingly designing these chips for cars. Sony is also a major gaming player with its PlayStation division. Sony said in January that it will set up a company called Sony Mobility to explore entry into the electric vehicle market. The company also took the wraps off a prototype sport utility vehicle called the VISION-S 02.
Honda meanwhile has been transitioning to become an electric car company. The Japanese automaker said it would phase out gas-powered vehicles by 2040. Honda currently has a joint venture with General Motors to develop new electric vehicles. The Sony and Honda venture mark another example of technology companies jumping into the auto sector and carmakers looking to boost their technological capabilities.
Other EV makers
During a news conference in Tokyo on Friday, Honda CEO Toshihiro Mibe said although he is not thinking about taking the joint venture public immediately, he would not dismiss that as among the options to grow the firm. “In the joint venture, we would like to lead the mobility evolution by combining our technology and experience with Honda’s long experience in mobility development and vehicle body manufacturing technologies,” Sony CEO Kenichiro Yoshida said. Furthermore, During a news conference in Tokyo on Friday, Honda CEO Toshihiro Mibe said although he is not thinking about taking the joint venture public immediately, he would not dismiss that as among the options to grow the firm.
Chinese technology companies Baidu and Xiaomi have both formed electric vehicle companies. In March, Xiaomi announced its entrance into the electric car race and said it plans to invest $10 billion into the business over the next 10 years. Last month, Xiaomi officially registered its electric vehicle business Xiaomi EV, Inc. Xiaomi EV now has 300 employees, the company said in September. Lei leads the group. China’s electric vehicle market is getting more and more crowded, with the entry of new players. Chinese search giant Baidu launched a standalone electric car company in January and in February hired a CEO for that business.
Credits- CNBC
