Sony, Honda team up to start new electric vehicle company
Honda and Sony have expressed intense interest in rise of electric vehicles on separate occasions
Honda and Sony – two of Japan's most high-profile corporate titans – are teaming up to enter the electric vehicle market.
Technology and software company Sony is collaborating with car manufacturer Honda to produce electric cars by 2025.
The cooperation between the two is a powerful alliance and threatens to shake up the previously insular electric vehicle industry. U.S. companies, including Tesla and Apple, have been aggressive in researching electric vehicle production, seeing it as a market set to boom in the coming years.
The joint venture is also a source of Japanese economic solidarity – both Honda and Sony are legacy companies in Japan and are often used as a symbol of post-war prosperity.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| HMC | HONDA MOTOR CO. LTD. | 26.20 | +0.01 | +0.06% |
| SONY | SONY GROUP CORP. | 19.07 | -0.10 | -0.55% |
"The new company will aim to bring together Honda’s cutting-edge environmental and safety technologies, mobility development capabilities, vehicle body manufacturing technology and after-sales service management experience, with Sony’s expertise in the development and application of imaging, sensing, telecommunication, network and entertainment technologies, to realize a new generation of mobility and services for mobility that are closely aligned with users and the environment, and continue to evolve going forward," Honda announced earlier this month.
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Sony president and CEO Kenichiro Yoshida, left, and Honda president Toshihiro Mibe attend a joint press conference in Tokyo on March 4, 2022. (Behrouz Mehri/AFP via Getty Images)
Yasuhide Mizuno, a senior Honda executive, will serve as the JV's chairman and CEO, and Izumi Kawanishi, an executive vice president at Sony, will be the president and chief operating officer.
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The joint venture – named Sony Honda Mobility – was first announced in March.
Each company will invest approximately 5 billion yen ($37.52 million) in the venture.
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Sony's Vision-S prototype car is photographed at the company's headquarters in Tokyo on March 4, 2022. (Behrouz Mehri/AFP via Getty Images)
Honda and its luxury brand Acura are launching new certified pre-owned programs that cover vehicles up to 10 years old.
The programs are an extension of the brand's current certified pre-owned programs, which cover vehicles no older than five years, but offer longer benefits. All the cars in participating dealer inventory can be browsed on the automaker's consumer websites.
Honda expects the new programs to appeal to young and first-time buyers who have been priced out of the new car market. It and several other mainstream automakers have abandoned the sub-$20,000 market, and the lowest priced Honda currently available new is the HR-V, which starts at $23,095.
Fox News' Ken Martin contributed to this report.