Earlier this year, we reported on a joint venture with Sony and Honda to manufacture and sell electric cars. The press release stated that Honda will focus on manufacturing while Sony will develop a platform for mobility services. The partnership was supposed to combine Honda’s expertise in the design and marketing of automobiles with Sony’s capabilities in image sensors, telecommunications, and entertainment technology.
At this point, it appears that both companies want to disengage into a separate entity. Nikkei Asia reported that Sony eyes ‘independent’ EV joint venture with Honda. The report claims the joint venture with Honda Motor may hold a public share offering though the two companies prepare to develop electric vehicles together.
“We shared the view that it is better to make the joint venture independent, in the long run, rather than putting it under Sony or Honda,” Sony Chairman, President and CEO Kenichiro Yoshida told Nikkei in an interview Monday.
Yoshida did not provide additional information, but stated that it is “possible” that the companies will sell a stake in the joint venture or conduct an initial public offering. “I hope to be able to talk a little about it at some point in the near future,” he added.
In March 2022, the two companies announced the joint venture. Sony stated that it desired to “fill the world with emotion through the power of creativity and technology,” most likely through the use of high-tech interiors and elaborate entertainment systems. It added that it desires to develop a mobility system that is “centered on safety, entertainment, and adaptability.”
Honda announced plans in 2021 to convert its entire vehicle lineup to EVs and fuel-cell vehicles by 2040. In this regard, it will invest $40 billion and introduce 30 new EVs by 2030. It is not yet clear how the Sony partnership fits into these plans, but Honda is far behind its competitors; its only true EV sold in the West is the niche Honda E, which is only available in Europe.
Sony seems to think that Apple and other tech companies will soon join the race, and that electric vehicles will become more connected, just like gaming consoles and the company’s Aibo robot dog. And like Sony’s Chairman remarked “Mobility is becoming more of a service” in today’s society. “We want to contribute to the evolution of mobility by providing the basis with network functions.”
