Ever wondered what would happen if one of Japan’s largest car companies embarked on a partnership with the firm that’s responsible for the Playstation or television that’s sitting in your living room? We finally have the answer with the surprise announcement that Honda and Sony are partnering together to create EV offerings for consumer consumption.
A Partnership That Makes Sense In The Grand Scheme Of Things
While this partnership will not see Honda edition PS5s line the shelves of your local GameStop, it will be a big deal if you’re a buyer of an electrified vehicle. This partnership will come in the form of a joint venture which will focus on developing and selling “high-value” electric vehicles while also focusing on providing mobility-focused products.
This partnership is the latest twist in Sony’s automotive endeavors with the company using the past few years to tease what it could do in automobiles. Sony’s first move came in 2020 when the company unveiled the Vision-S concept at CES and took the car to a couple of other events before announcing that it had no interest in building cars. Those claims proved false when the company revealed the Vision S-02 concept SUV in January. We suspect that both of these concepts were rolling shells since the company focused on promoting the design and technology of the duo versus any form of mechanical hardware.
This partnership would potentially move that aspect of things away from Sony, with the company being free to utilize its design and tech advantages while allowing Honda to iron out the performance hardware needed to give the concepts the ability to do daily commuting.
Honda Gets New Angle For EV Rollout
Along with the benefits for Sony, the joint-venture will also be a boost for Honda too. The company has talked about expanding its EV footprint for a while now, but so far it has had very little to show for it, especially in the U.S. where Ford, Tesla, and others are preparing to plant their flags in the EV segment. Honda did announce that it will be partnering with GM to produce two models with one going to Honda and the other going to Acura with the duo being built on the Ultium platform. However, those models will not be out for a few more years and we have not seen any physical signs of either model.
This venture with Sony could help give Honda an alternative and potentially faster route to the EV market with the Sony vehicles perhaps being sold through select Honda dealerships to help expand the visibility of the production Sony cars for customers to see and perhaps buy for their fleet.
Carl Malek has been an automotive journalist for over 10 years. First starting out as a freelance photographer before making the transition to writing during college, his work has appeared on numerous automotive forums as well as websites such as Autoshopper.com.
Carl is also a big fan of British vehicles with the bulk of his devotion going to the Morgan Motor Company as well as offerings from Lotus, MG, and Caterham. When he is not writing about automobiles, Carl enjoys spending time with his family and friends in the Metro Detroit area, as well as spending time with his adorable pets.