Sony and Honda reveal plans to jointly make and sell electric vehicles

Sony has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Honda to discuss and develop the idea of being a car manufacturer. The two companies announced that they would be exploring their intent to build a joint venture, which would be focused on development and sales of new electric vehicles, as well as develop and launch a new mobility service platform.

The new joint venture would be Sony and Honda, both of which would bring their expertise to the table. The New Company formed by the two would be in charge of everything from design and development to sales of the resulting new EV, but Honda would manufacture the cars on their behalf. The new entity will get a mobility service product from Sony.

If all goes to plan, the joint venture would start selling cars in 2025.

At the annual tech show in Las Vegas, Sony has had at least three different splashy moments to show off its flirtations with being an automaker. In 2020 it surprised everyone by bringing a concept car called the Vision-S to the show, then in 2021 it shared more details, including videos of a working prototype driving on both track and public roads. The Vision-S SUV concept is an addition to the original sedan, and will be launching a new company called Sony Mobility Inc. to focus on commercialization of its own EV.

Themobility service is most interesting in the context of what Sony has been focused on with its own EV concepts. The dashboards feature display and entertainment for passengers. Sony has success in these fields, but it is not known for its user and software interface, so how that pans out is a big question mark.

At a show that is known for being the biggest showcase of vaporware, three successive splashy concept reveals by a car company is not a good sign. An Memorandum of Understanding is more of a formal agreement for two companies to think creatively together. There is an awful lot of smoke accumulating here, and at least this MOU has some defined timelines in the mix to watch out for in terms of when it could become more concrete.

Sony reveals more details on its secretive Vision-S sedan