Sony Corp and Honda Motor Co sign Sony Honda Mobility joint venture

Sony Corp and Honda Motor Co Ltd said this week they had officially agreed to establish an equally owned joint venture with the aim to begin selling electric vehicles by 2025.

The two companies will invest JPY 5 billion in the venture each.

Senior Honda executive Yasuhide Mizuno will assume the roles of Chairman and Chief Executive Officer in the joint venture, while Sony’s executive vice president Izumi Kawanishi will assume the roles of President and Chief Operating Officer.

The venture, named Sony Honda Mobility and originally announced in March, will combine Honda’s expertise in building and selling vehicles with Sony’s expertise in software and technology, the companies said in a statement.

Currently, Honda offers only one electric vehicle model, Honda e. It has already announced plans to expand its lineup to 30 electric vehicle models and produce 2 million electric vehicles per year by 2030.

Earlier this year, the Japanese auto maker also announced plans to develop a series of lower-priced electric vehicles with General Motors Co by using a new joint platform.

Honda has been struggling to bolster margins amid higher raw materials costs and a global chip shortage.

The shares of Honda Motor Co Ltd (7267) closed 2.69% (JPY 90.0) lower at JPY 3,261.0 in Tokyo on Friday, erasing gains from the previous two trading sessions.

Meanwhile, the shares of Sony Corp (6758) closed 0.62% (JPY 70.0) lower at JPY 11,215.0 in Tokyo on Friday, while recording a 7.54% weekly loss, or the steepest one since early April.