Sony and Honda partnership to make electric vehicles

Two big Japanese companies are partnering to make electric vehicles. Sony and Honda have decided to do a joint venture for this. Its first electric vehicle is planned to be launched by 2025. It will leverage Honda’s expertise in mobility development, technology and sales and Sony’s long experience in imaging, telecommunications, networks and entertainment.

This joint venture will develop and design the product but will use Honda’s plant for manufacturing. Sony will have the responsibility of developing the mobility services platform. Sony and Honda were the beginnings of Japan’s reconstruction in the 1940s after World War II. HondaThe founder of Soichiro Honda was an engineer and industrialist. He started with his father’s bicycle repair shop and later made Honda a global company. Sony was started by Akio Morita and Masaru Ibuka. Morita had good market knowledge while Ibuka was interested in product development. Morita believed that Japan should have a firm stand and move forward with pride. 

When Sony developed the Walkman portable audio player in the 1970s, some engineers questioned its success, but Morita believed that people would love to listen to music on the go and that the product would sell well. Sony is counted among the top companies in the world in consumer electronics.

Announcing the joint venture for Electric Vehicles, Honda Chief Executive Toshihiro Mibe said, “Sony and Honda share many historical and cultural similarities, but our areas of technology expertise are very different. In the meantime, this partnership will open many possibilities for mobility. Honda’s hybrid car sales are on the rise. Honda Motor, the second largest seller of hybrid cars in the US, posted a 67 per cent increase in hybrid car sales at 1,07,060 units. Electric vehicles run only on electricity and require a charging infrastructure, while hybrid EVs can run on gasoline as well as electricity.