Sony Group Corporation and Honda Motor Co., Ltd. announced that they have signed a joint venture agreement to establish a new company to engage in the sale of high-value-added electric vehicles (EVs) and provide services for mobility. The announcement is the next step in discussions of a strategic alliance in the mobility field between the parties as announced in the joint press release entitled “Sony and Honda Sign Memorandum of Understanding for Strategic Alliance in Mobility Field” on March 4, 2022.
The new company—Sony Honda Mobility Inc.—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 is closely aligned with users and the environment, and continue to evolve going forward.
According to Sony Group Corporation chairman, president and CEO Kenichiro Yoshida, “Based on our vision to ‘make the mobility space an emotional one,’ Sony’s initiatives in the mobility business are centered around the three areas of safety, entertainment, and adaptability. As we continue our learnings in these areas, we are excited to have met a partner, Honda, with extensive global achievements and knowledge, and to sign the joint venture agreement between the two companies. Going forward, we aim to contribute to the evolution of mobility by combining Honda’s cutting-edge environmental and safety technologies, mobility development capabilities, vehicle body manufacturing technology, and after-sales service management experience, with our expertise in imaging, sensing, telecommunication, network, and entertainment technologies.”
Meanwhile, on the part of Honda Motor Co. Ltd. president and CEO Toshihiro Mibe, “Honda continues to take on new challenges in the environmental, safety, and other advanced fields in order to be a driving force for social change through mobility, and ‘become the power that supports people around the world who are trying to do things based on their own initiative.’ We are very pleased to have signed a joint venture agreement with Sony, which has strengths in advanced digital technology and shares our desire to take on new challenges. Since its announcement in March, many people have expressed their expectations for this joint venture. At the new company, we will strive to create new value through the fusion brought about by the combination of our different industries, so please look forward to future developments.”
Sony Honda Mobility Inc. will be established within 2022, with headquarters in Tokyo, Japan. It intends to begin the sale of EVs and the provision of services for mobility in 2025. It will be capitalized at JPY10 billion, with both the Sony Group Corporation and Honda Motor Co., Ltd. investing 50% each.
The members of the board include:
- Yasuhide Mizuno — representative director, chairman, and CEO
- Izumi Kawanishi — representative director, president, and COO
- Shugo Yamaguchi — director and deputy president
- Kojiro Okabe — director and executive vice president
- Manabu Ozawa — director (Honda Motor Co., Ltd.)
- Naoya Horii — director (Sony Group Corporation)