Sony, Honda Sign Agreement for Joint EV Brand

author: Vineeth Joel Patel   

Earlier this March, news of Honda and Sony joining teams to build electric cars came out. Back then, details on the partnership were scarce. All we knew then was that the two Japanese companies were looking to join forces to make EVs. At the time, the companies were holding negotiations for "the joint development and sales of high value-added battery electric vehicles." Now, the two companies have taken another step toward their goal. 

Honda Officially Partners With Sony

Honda and Sony have taken the next step by making their joint venture official. The two Japanese companies put pen to paper on a joint-venture agreement. Under the partnership, a new company called Sony Honda Mobility will be formed with both Honda and Sony owning 50 percent of it. 

Honda and Sony will use the company "to engage in the sale of high-value-added electric vehicles and provide services for mobility," states the press release. The new Sony Honda Mobility Inc. company will be headquartered in Tokyo.

Understandably, Honda will focus on manufacturing, after-sales service, mobility development, as well as safety and environmental technology. Sony will be bringing its tech knowledge to the company, which includes entertainment, networking, sensors, and imaging. The split makes sense, as Sony is a tech company and Honda is an automaker. This is a logical way to divide tasks for a company looking to make EVs. 

The Sony Honda Mobility venture will formally be established this year with sales of the first electric car expected to begin in 2025. 

What Will Sony and Honda Come Out?

"We are very pleased to sign this joint venture agreement, which represents the start line from which we embark on the major challenge of revolutionizing mobility and creating new value," Yasuhide Mizuno, senior managing officer at Honda and the future CEO of Sony Honda Mobility, said in a statement. "We plan to fully leverage the technological assets the two companies possess in different fields, such as Sony's sensing technology and Honda's original mobility development capabilities, to realize mobility and services that inspire and excite our customers."

It will be interesting to see what kind of electric cars the two companies come out with. Honda is late to the all-electric party and doesn't have a single all-electric car on sale in the U.S. 

For its future electric cars, Honda will be working with General Motors. One will be the Honda Prologue SUV and the other will wear an Acura badge. Honda has plans to only sell battery-electric and hydrogen fuel-cell cars by 2040. If anything, we've seen more impressive electric cars from Sony, which showcased the Vision-S 01 and Vision-S 02 crossover. 

Vineeth Joel Patel

Joel Patel has been covering all aspects of the automotive industry for four years as an editor and freelance writer for various websites. When it comes to cars, he enjoys covering the merger between technology and cars. In his spare time, Joel likes to watch baseball, work on his car, and try new foods