Sony, Honda Joint Venture to Roll Out Electric Cars by 2025

 

Sony and Honda Motor said on Thursday their equally owned joint venture Sony Honda Mobility will start selling electric cars in 2025.

To the JV, first announced in March, Honda will bring its expertise in building and selling cars and Sony will add its software and technology chops, the companies said in a statement on Thursday.

Each company will invest 5 billion yen ($37.52 million) in the JV.

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.

Honda, like its bigger rival Toyota, has been slow to shift to electric vehicles (EV) and is under pressure from investors to make cars that are carbon-free and equipped with newer technology such as self-driving features.

The carmaker, which only offers one EV, the Honda e, has said it plans to roll out 30 EV models and make some 2 million EVs annually by 2030.

The maker of popular models such as Accord and Civic is dealing with crimped margins as costs of raw materials have surged and a global chip crunch hurts production.

Earlier this year, the company said it would develop a series of lower-priced EVs with General Motors, based on a new joint platform, expanding on plans for GM to begin building two electric SUVs for Honda starting in 2024.

Shares in Honda and other Japanese automakers were down between 3% and 5% on Friday as world stocks were set to slide amid fears that sharp interest rate increases by central banks would tip economies into recession.

 

• Reuters with additional editing by Jim Pollard

 

 

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