Sony Signs MoU With Honda To Make And Sell EVs By 2025

Japanese technology giant Sony Corp has announced a partnership with Honda Motor Corp to develop and sell battery-powered electric vehicles by 2025.

Accordingly, a new joint venture company will be formed this year, with Honda leading the production process of the first model, while Sony will develop a mobility services platform for the vehicle.

According to Sony CEO Kenichiro Yoshida, "...we want to take the lead in mobility change by combining our experience and technology with Honda's expertise in vehicle body and mobility technology."

Meanwhile, the CEO of Honda, Toshihiro Mibe did not rule out the involvement of others in the effort to develop an electric vehicle model with Sony.

“In the future, we want to further grow our business with an open mind."

He added that Honda would continue to develop their own electric vehicle models as a separate strategy from existing collaborations.

Sony has previously produced prototypes of electric sedans (Vision-S 01) and seven-seater SUVs (Vision-S 02), both featuring Level 2+ autonomous driving technology, which shows that they already have those technologies in place. 

Last January Sony was reportedly looking for a partner, and it seems they have found one in Honda as evidenced by the recently signed MoU.

The alliance aims to combine Honda's capabilities in mobility development, vehicle body manufacturing technology and experience in after-sales service management, with Sony's expertise in the development and application of imaging, sensing, telecommunications, networking and entertainment technologies.

Sony unveiled the Vision-S 01 sedan at CES 2020. The prototype was built by Magna Steyr in Austria and has already done road tests in Europe. Meanwhile, the Vision-S 02 SUV was unveiled at CES 2022 which took place last January.