Electric vehicle (unsplash photo)
Will Tesla’s most interesting competitor come from Japan? On Friday, carmaker Honda and electronics giant Sony announced the signing of a memorandum of understanding to establish a joint venture in the field of electric vehicles.
According to the companies, they are determined to establish the new company this year, and start selling electric vehicles made in 2025 – that is, only 3 years from the moment of establishment. Given that Tesla took 5 years from inception to start selling its first model, and other companies took even longer periods (Rivian, established in 2009, began commercial vehicle production only in the last months of 2021, i.e. after 12 years of work)This is a rather pretentious undertaking.
More in-
The companies have stated that the joint venture will be responsible for the entire manufacturing path of the vehicle, from design to marketing, but the factories where it will be manufactured, at least initially, will be owned by Honda. The division of labor will be that Honda will design the body of the vehicle, be responsible for its production processes and sales, while Sony will create the entertainment systems, sensors and connectivity to the cellular network.
“Although Sony and Honda are companies that share many historical and cultural similarities, our areas of technological expertise are very different,” said Honda CEO and President Toshihiro Miba. “.
Honda is one of the ten largest automakers in the world, with production of more than 5 million cars a year – but in the electric vehicle field it is significantly behind, with only one electric model of its currently sold in the West. Now, it wants to transfer all its production power to electric vehicles by 2040. Sony, for its part, announced two years ago that it is interested in entering the field of electric cars, and has even introduced two Vision-S series prototypes – a family car and a crossover vehicle.
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