Honda CEO Toshihiro Mibe  -  Honda

Honda CEO Toshihiro Mibe

Honda

Honda Motor Co. and Sony Corp. have entered agreement to set up a “high-value-added” electric vehicle venture this year under the name Sony Honda Mobility Inc. The partnership is expected to deliver a “new generation of mobility and services.”

The joint venture teams two iconic Japanese brands from two of the country’s most important business industries: automotive and high technology.

The companies will establish the 50-50 company yet this year with the goal of starting EV sales and providing mobility services in 2025, the announcement reported. The deal is subject to regulatory approval.

Yasuhide Mizuno, currently a senior managing officer at Honda, will head the new company as CEO. Mizuno was formerly Honda’s chief officer for automobile operations before being tapped to head the Honda-Sony JV Prep Office on June 1.

Izumi Kawanishi, a Sony executive vice president, will assume the role of COO.

Sony Honda Mobility will be based in Tokyo. The venture will marry Honda’s expertise in engineering and manufacturing vehicles, and expertise in after-sales service, to Sony’s skills in imaging, sensing, telecommunications and entertainment, the companies said.

The agreement formalizes a memorandum of understanding that Honda and Sony announced in March. The new company is expected to sell its vehicles in the U.S., Japan and Europe.

Honda CEO Toshihiro Mibe reports the initial enterprise will be small but will allow the company to test new business models.

“At the new company, we will strive to create new value through the fusion brought about by the combination of our different industries,” Mibe said in a joint statement.

Honda has announced plans to invest 5 trillion yen ($37.16 billion) over the next 10 years in electrification as it rolls out 30 EVs globally and builds production capacity for 2 million EVs annually by 2030.

Honda plans to be ready to supply 800,000 EVs to North America by 2030.

 

Originally posted on Auto Dealer Today

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