Honda and Sony may agree to form a new joint venture to begin producing electric vehicles, to have them on the market by the middle of the decade. It will combine Honda’s car-making expertise with Sony’s cameras, screens, and self-driving technology to create what the two firms hope will be competitive EVs sold under a (new) different brand.
Sony’s entertainment and game division is also vital to this cooperation, and it will almost certainly be incorporated into these future products as an essential piece, given that they will be sold as self-driving automobiles. With the recent launch of PS Now, the day when you may play Gran Turismo directly from your car’s infotainment system may not be far off.
After expressing their desire to strengthen connections in March of this year, the two firms have now stated that they will go even farther, even though the joint venture agreement has yet to be completed and no date has been set for its execution.
Word from Kenichiro Yoshida
As per Sony Chairman, President, and CEO Kenichiro Yoshida, who spoke with Nikkei, they wish to convey the opinion that, in the long term, it is fine to make the joint venture independent than to put everything under Sony or Honda. That is a viable option. They also wish to donate to the development of mobility by offering network functions as the foundation. Mobility is increasingly becoming a service.
It appears that the two corporations are close to reaching a deal, but this is certainly not the case. However, conversations appear to be far advanced, and it appears that they are working out the final form of the arrangement, which they will both sign, before making this public and making the joint venture official.
The Vision S 01, a prototype constructed by Magna Steyr in Austria, was used to advertise Sony’s automobile ambitions. The business then unveiled another prototype, this time an SUV version of the first (Vision S 02, pictured), implying that it was serious about building automobiles, even though it denied it at the time despite its actions.
Sony-Honda Partnership
It is unclear if the Honda-Sony joint venture’s vehicles will be the two aforementioned models, but it would make sense given that they are already functional, fully-engineered vehicles designed and built by a company with vast car building experience.
However, if Honda took over the manufacturing reigns for the joint venture, then it would also take up the responsibility of engineering the products to best fit its production principles, so completely new vehicles could still be drawn up in time to be launched by 2025.
This unique relationship between Sony and Honda only confirms what Ford CEO Jim Farley recently stated about what he believes is going on in the automobile business. He believes that automakers will suffer significant changes in the not-too-distant future and that to survive, they would have to work with or perhaps combine with organizations that are not in the automotive industry – another example being the proposed Stellantis-Foxconn alliance.
Read More: Here is the list of Top 6 Car Exporting Companies in IndiaÂ
