TOKYO – Two big names in Japanese electronics and automobiles are joining forces to jointly produce an electric vehicle.
Sony Corp. and Honda Motor Co. have agreed to form a joint venture this year to begin selling an electric vehicle by 2025, the two parties announced on Friday.
The plan is to bring together Honda’s expertise in mobility development, technology and sales with Sony’s expertise in imaging, telecommunications, networking and entertainment.
A union of traditionally different manufacturing enterprises is rare in Japan. But it makes sense in the age of electric vehicles, which lack gasoline engines and have complicated electronics.
The joint venture will develop and engineer the product, but will use Honda’s plant for manufacturing. Sony will develop the mobility services platform.
Sony and Honda had humble beginnings in the 1940s, when Japan was rebuilding from the ashes of World War II. Both had charismatic founders.
A d
Honda was founded by Soichiro Honda, an engineer, industrialist and renowned maverick. He started out helping out in his father’s bike repair shop and eventually made Honda a global powerhouse. He is often quoted as saying things like: a degree is worthless, learn to work with your hands, or work for yourself and not for a company.
Sony was founded by Akio Morita, who co-wrote ‘The Japan That Can Say No’, which advocates for a more assertive and proud Japan, and Masaru Ibuka.
Morita had a good knowledge of the market while Ibuka was known for product development. In the 1970s, when Sony was developing the Walkman portable audio player, some engineers were skeptical. But Morita insisted that people would want to listen to music on the go.
“While Sony and Honda are companies that share many historical and cultural similarities, our areas of technology expertise are very different,” Honda chief executive Toshihiro Mibe said when announcing the deal.
A d
“I believe that this alliance that brings together the strengths of our two companies offers great possibilities for the future of mobility.”
___
Yuri Kageyama is on Twitter https://twitter.com/yurikageyama
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Comments are closed.