Sony and Honda have signed a memorandum to jointly design and sell electric vehicles, the companies said. The agreement is not final, but the goal is to establish a joint venture this year and start selling vehicles by 2025.
Honda would design, manufacture and launch the first model, and Sony would create a platform for mobility services. The idea is to combine Honda’s car production and sales with Sony’s experience in information and entertainment, mobile devices and image sensors.
Although Sony and Honda are companies that share many historical and cultural similarities, our areas of technological expertise are very different,
said Honda CEO Toshihiro Mibe.
“That is why I believe that this alliance, which joins the forces of our two companies, offers great opportunities for the future of mobility.
As for Honda, the joint venture could help it achieve its goal of switching the entire line to EV by 2040. As things stand now, the company has one of the rarest electric vehicle lines of all carmakers, with only one real EV being sold in the west, which is an affordable Honda E for the European market.
Sony presented the partnership as an attempt to “fill the world with emotion through the power of creativity and technology”, which probably means you can expect high-tech interiors and high-tech entertainment systems designed to help you forget you’re stuck in rush hour traffic. He adds that he wants to create a mobility system “focused on security, entertainment and adaptability”.
This news did not completely surprise us, as Sony has already shown not just one but two electric vehicles of its own design, the Vision-S EV and the Vision-S 02 electric SUV. When it first appeared, the Vision-S was practically a showroom for all the benefits Sony could offer, with 33 different sensors for 360 Reality Audio technology, widescreen displays, autonomous driving and other features.
Sony has promised to unveil a new company called Sony Mobility sometime this spring, but it looks like an alliance with Honda will replace the idea, Engadget reports.
