(Credit: Sony)Honda and Sony say they are teaming up to form a new venture to develop and sell electric vehicles.
The companies intend to form a joint venture that will result in establishing a new company sometime in 2022 with the goal of having the electric vehicles ready for market by 2025. The partnership will also include mobility services.
The two say they will combine Honda’s vehicle manufacturing technologies, mobility development and post-sales management with Sony’s imaging, sensing, telecommunications, network and entertainment technologies.
The new company from Sony and Honda will plan, design, develop and sell the EVs but will not own or operate manufacturing facilities. Honda will manufacture the first EV model at its manufacturing facilities. A mobility service platform will be developed by Sony for the new company.
“Although Sony and Honda are companies that share many historical and cultural similarities, our areas of technological expertise are very different,” says Honda CEO Toshihiro Mibe. “Therefore, I believe this alliance which brings together the strengths of our two companies offers great possibilities for the future of mobility."
Seperate from the Sony partnership, Honda also says it is issuing its first green bonds, totaling $2.75 billion. The bonds will be used for eligible green projects, including the development of zero emission vehicles.
Sony said earlier in 2022 that it planned to explore entry into the EV market. The company began testing an EV called Vision-S 01 at the end of 2020, and at the 2022 Consumer Electronics Show unveiled an SUV version, the Vision-S 02.
The Financial Times reported that the joint venture will be distinct from the Honda brand. Honda also has a partnership with General Motors to produce EVs in North America.
Honda previously vowed to sell only 100% battery and fuel cell electric vehicles by 2050, up from a target of 40% by 2030. The automaker is also seen as a key player in the hydrogen fuel cell market.
The Sony-Honda partnership comes as automakers ramp up efforts to produce emissions free vehicles. Over the past year Toyota, Ford and GM are among the automakers that have committed billions of dollars toward battery and EV production. At COP26, 33 countries and 11 automakers, including Honda, targeted a transition to zero emissions vehicles by 2040.
