We recently heard from Sony and Honda about their plans to manufacture EVs together. An important update to that news is that they intend to treat it as a separate business in the form of an independent company. Sony Chairman, President and CEO, told Nikkei that it is better to make the joint venture independent.
Recently, when both had announced of working together, it was learned that Honda would focus on the manufacturing of the cars while Sony would take care of the mobility platform. The joint company that they would form would then look into the planning, designing and development of the EVs. Yoshida did not offer any further details on the new company, except for hinting that they may plan to take the company public sometime in the future or sell a stake it to third parties.
The initial announcement of the joint venture was made back in March this year. Then Sony had expressed that it aims to “fill the world with emotion through the power of creativity and technology.” This the company intends to achieve by offering high-end entertainment systems and EVs.
Last year, Honda made it clear to the public that it plans to shift its entire vehicle line-up to EV. It announced that it would go fully electric by the year 2040. It would be launching 30 new EVs by 2030 and has plans to invest $40 billion in a bid to attain the fully-electric tag. Currently, the company still lags behind others, with its only true EV being the Honda E, exclusively available for the European market.
