What you need to know
- Honda and Sony have signed a deal to build electric vehicles together.
- Apple reportedly wanted to do a similar deal with Hyundai last year.
- Honda will build the cars while Sony will provide the technology.
Honda and Sony have signed a deal that will see the pair work together on producing electric vehicles. The deal will have Honda make the actual cars while Sony will be in charge of the technology side of things.
A Nikkei Asia report outlined the responsibilities shared between the two companies.
Under the deal, Honda will make the vehicles and provide after-sales services, while Sony will be in charge of developing entertainment, network and other mobility capabilities. The JV will design, develop and sell the vehicle.
If that deal sounds familiar it's because it's the same as one that Apple reportedly wanted to make with Hyundai. Last year saw Hyundai confirm that it was in talks over an Apple Car project before those talks were called off. The plan at that time was for Hyundai or Kia to build the cars but use Apple's self-driving and in-car technology. Now, it looks like someone beat them to the punch.
Honda and Sony announced the deal during a joint press conference with the plan being to have cars ready to sell by 2025. That, coincidentally, is the same date we have been told to expect some form of Apple EV, too.
On discussing why a tech company and a traditional car company have joined forces, Honda CEO Toshihiro Mibe said that it was all down to the way companies like Tesla and Rivian have taken the EV market by storm at a time when traditional carmakers are playing catchup.
Mibe said that the auto industry is facing a tipping point and is seeing traditional carmakers entering the EV segment in which many new entrants and startups are also vying for market share. New entrants including Google parent Alphabet and other tech giants have entered the business and startup companies such as Rivian in the U.S. are rapidly catching up with traditional carmakers.
Apple is still to enter the market, of course, and it still isn't clear whether it ever will.
