Recently, Sony and Honda Motor officially agreed to start a joint venture. The joint venture will start selling electric cars in 2025.
Japanese car makers Honda and Toyota have been slow to shift to electric vehicles (EV) compared to other global car makers. Honda has had a lot of pressure from investors to make electric cars with new technology like self-driving.
Honda currently only offers one EV, the Honda e. The company says it plans to have 30 EV models by 2030.
The joint venture between Sony and Honda, called Sony Honda Mobility, was announced in March. Honda will bring experience in building and selling cars, whereas Sony will bring software and technology.
The companies will each invest ¥5 billion JPY ($37.5m USD) in the joint venture.
Due to the rising costs of materials and a global computer chip shortage, Honda’s profits have decreased.
Honda also has plans to build two electric SUVs with General Motors starting in 2024 as well as low-priced EVs. There is no timeline for the low-priced EVs yet.
VOCABULARY
- Joint venture – an agreement between two or more companies to work together on a project
- Investor – A person who puts money into a company or property and hopes to get a profit
- Self-driving – a car that can travel or move without a human driver
- Material – a physical thing that you use to build or make other things (cotton is a common material used to make t-shirts)
- Shortage – limited supply; not enough; too little
- Profit – extra money, financial gain
- Timeline – a schedule or time period for when something will be done
Original story from Reuters below:
