Sony and Honda Motor Co. have agreed to set up a joint venture this year to start selling an electric car by 2025, the two sides said Friday.
The plan aims to combine Honda's expertise in mobility development, technology and sales with Sony's expertise in photography, communications, networking and entertainment.
The joint venture will develop and design the product, but it will use the Honda manufacturing plant, while Sony will develop the mobility services platform.
"Although Sony and Honda share many historical and cultural similarities, our areas of technological expertise are quite different," Honda CEO Toshihiro Mebe said in announcing the agreement.
"I think this alliance, which brings together the strengths of our two companies, offers great potential for the future of mobility."
Sony and Honda
The beginnings of both Sony and Honda were modest in the 1940s when japan was rebuilding from the ashes of World War II, both of which had attractive founders.
Honda was founded by Soichiro Honda, an engineer and industrialist renowned for his departure from tradition, where he began helping with his father's bicycle repair workshop and eventually built Honda into a global powerhouse.
He is often quoted as saying things such as: "diploma or certificate is worthless, learn to work with your own hands, or work for yourself and not for a company."
Sony was founded by Akio Morita, who co-wrote "Japan can say no," which supported japan more assertively and proudly, and Masaru Ibuka.
Morita had market experience while Ibuka was best known for product development. in the 1970s when Sony was developing the mobile audio player Walkman, some engineers were skeptical. but Morita insisted that people want to listen to music on the go.