Tesla is getting another competitor.
Japan’s Sony and Honda have signed a deal to jointly develop and sell battery-powered electric vehicles (BEVs), the two companies announced on Friday. The joint venture hasn’t been formed yet; the companies have signed a memorandum of understanding that outlines their plan to establish it later in 2022.
According to a press release by Sony, the idea is to combine Honda’s car-building prowess with Sony’s expertise in the fields of imaging, sensing, telecommunication, network, and entertainment technologies.
The first model resulting from the new venture should launch in 2025.
The statements from Sony CEO Kenichiro Yoshida and Honda CEO Toshihiro Mibe focus on the synergy between the two companies, made possible precisely because their focus has traditionally been different.
“Although Sony and Honda are companies that share many historical and cultural similarities, our areas of technological expertise are very different. Therefore, I believe this alliance which brings together the strengths of our two companies offers great possibilities for the future of mobility,” Mibe said in a statement.
“Through this alliance with Honda (…) we intend to build on our vision to ‘make the mobility space an emotional one,’ and contribute to the evolution of mobility centered around safety, entertainment and adaptability,” Yoshida said in a statement.
Notably, in January Yoshida announced a plan to create a new company, Sony Mobility, focusing on electric vehicles, and the company even showcased a prototype electric SUV. The new venture likely builds on that plan or replaces it.
Honda, on the other hand, at one point focused largely on hydrogen-powered electric vehicles, but its Clarity sedan didn’t gain a lot of traction amidst a global move towards BEVs, and was discontinued in 2021. The Clarity line-up also included a battery-powered electric version as well as hybrid variants, but these were also discontinued. In April 2021, Honda announced it plans to shift production to electric vehicles completely by 2040. The company’s first globally available BEV should be the Prologue, launching in 2024.
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