Japanese electronics giant Sony and Honda car makers have planned to set up an electric car manufacturing and sale business, companies said on Friday.
Sony and Honda aim to establish a new company this year and start selling their first car in 2025.
The new company will design, develop and sell electric vehicles but not own or use production facilities. With its many years of experience in automotive manufacturing, Honda will focus on manufacturing this car in its own industries. Sony will upgrade the car’s “travel service platform”.
It is not yet clear what that might look like at this point, but Sony is a major supplier of image sensors for smartphones and is increasingly designing these car chips. Sony is also a major gamer with its PlayStation category.
Sony said in January it would launch a company called Sony Mobility to monitor entry into the electric car market. The company also removed the holes for a prototype sport utility called VISION-S 02.
Meanwhile Honda is turning into an electric car company. A Japanese car manufacturer has said it will shut down gas-powered cars by 2040. Honda currently owns a joint venture with General Motors to develop electric vehicles.
The Sony and Honda business cites another example of tech-savvy technology companies and automakers who want to improve their technology skills.
Chinese technology companies Baidu and Xiaomi have both made electric car companies and last year’s report suggested that Apple is concentrating its efforts on self-driving cars.