Honda and Sony Combine Talents To Build Electric Vehicles

Honda and Sony Combine Talents To Build Electric Vehicles

Sony Honda Mobility held a press conference for its establishment. At the press conference held in March, Kenichiro Yoshida, president of Sony, and Toshihiro Sanbe, president of Honda, took the stage and explained the basic agreement between the two companies toward a strategic alliance in the field of mobility.

This time, a company called Sony Honda Mobility Co., Ltd. has already been established, and Chairman and CEO Yasuhide Mizuno from Honda and President and COO Izumi Kawanishi from Sony presented the intention and direction of the new company.

Specific products will start accepting pre-orders in the first half of 2025 and will be released in the same year. Delivery will start in North America in the spring of 2026, and will move to Japan in the second half of 2026.

The price range and model were not disclosed, but it was announced that there would be some kind of announcement in Las Vegas on January 4, 2023. January 4th is the press day of the technology trade fair "CES" held in Las Vegas every year.

It was also at CES 2020 that Sony unveiled the EV concept car "VISION-S" for the first time to the world. Two years later, at CES in 2022, the second VISION-S SUV type was also announced. In addition, Sony announced that it would establish a company called "Sony Mobility" in order to seriously consider entering the EV business.

Considering that Sony Mobility's first product will be released in North America, it can be seen that CES is a place where information can be disseminated globally, and Tesla, which has a considerable market share in the United States. I guess you're quite aware of that.

Regarding this project, the Sony Group has two companies: "Sony-Honda Mobility Inc.", which was established with a 50% stake with Honda, and "Sony Mobility Inc.," which is solely owned by Sony. there is

So what is the difference?

Sony Honda Mobility is a company that will actually combine the technologies of both companies to create new EVs for 2026. The platform of the chassis is new, and the production will be done at Honda's North American plant. Sales are mainly online.In the press release, it was appealing "high added value", so it will be a luxury car route. Regarding EVs, Honda has already teamed up with GM, but since this refers to the "global EV series in the mass-market price range", Honda and Sony Mobility's cars are expected to be segregated.

On the other hand, "Sony Mobility", which is 100% owned by Sony, is a company that not only develops platforms for mobility, but also develops AI robotics such as aibo and drones. It is an image that Mr. Kawanishi will be in charge of the entire business that he has been working on.

The development of a "platform for mobility" by Sony Mobility means a platform that connects to the cloud and provides entertainment etc. in the car space.Originally, when Sony developed the VISION-S, the company did not want to make and sell the car itself. Sony wanted to sell more image sensors for vehicles, so it was positioned as a "showcase" to specifically appeal how excellent the performance of Sony's image sensors was.

Also, if automated driving becomes practical in the future, drivers will not necessarily have to concentrate on driving. Since there is more room to spend time in the car, there is a possibility that you will be able to enjoy more entertainment. It was.A company called "Sony Mobility" creates such a platform. It seems that Sony Mobility does not intend to provide a platform only for "Sony Honda Mobility", and intends to sell the completed platform to automakers other than Sony Honda Mobility.

For Sony Mobility, it would be quicker to have all EVs developed by Honda first adopted, but on the other hand, Honda has partnered with Google to develop in-vehicle applications such as Google Map and Google Assistant. It has already been announced that they will cooperate on connected services, and it will be installed from new models in the second half of 2022.Furthermore, in June 2022, Apple announced that CarPlay for iOS 16, the OS for iPhone, will display vehicle parameters in real time and introduce operability that allows you to change car settings. Honda's logo is posted as a partner manufacturerFor Sony, there is a feeling that Honda was finally the favorite partner to commercialize EV, but for Honda, Sony is one of various partners such as Google and Apple. can.Sony Mobility needs to differentiate itself from Honda's EV by creating "high added value" that cannot be imitated by Google or Apple with Sony/Honda Mobility's cars.

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