Honda joins hands with GM and Sony to develop electric vehicles
Honda and Sony have agreed to establish a joint venture for the purpose of selling electric vehicles, and have agreed to sell electric vehicles from 2025.
The two companies invested 5 billion yen (48 billion won) each last year and signed a contract to create a joint corporation called Sony and Honda Mobility within this year.
Honda is in charge of manufacturing and sales of finished vehicles in a joint venture. Sony will provide software and IT technology. Honda executive Yasuhide Mizuno will serve as the CEO of the joint venture, and Sony Vice President Izumi Kawanishi will serve as the chief operating officer (COO).
The joint venture between Honda and Sony plans to sell electric vehicles from 2025. In addition, it plans to develop an electric vehicle jointly with GM and sell it from 2024. Honda's plan is to sell 30 electric vehicles by 2030.
Sony researches and develops technologies to be applied to next-generation mobility devices such as image sensors and 5G communication. It is already supplying sensors for ADAS (Advanced Driver Assistance Systems) to Japanese automakers. Recently, it demonstrated autonomous driving technology that remotely operates a Vision-S test vehicle in Germany using 5G mobile communication technology in Japan.
Sony plans to apply its strengths such as various sensors, artificial intelligence, contents and electronic devices to next-generation mobility such as electric vehicles and drones. This means that the demand for technology, devices and parts in the mobility market, which will grow significantly in the future, has been secured. In particular, it is expected to focus on securing demand for entertainment to be installed in next-generation mobility with content such as games, music, and movies and electronic devices such as TVs, game consoles, and audio at the forefront.