All about Sony and Honda Motors JV – Sony Honda Mobility Inc

Background

In March 2022, Sony Group Corporation (Sony) and Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (Honda) signed a memorandum of understanding for a strategic alliance in the mobility field. On June 16, the companies signed a 50:50 joint venture agreement to establish Sony Honda Mobility Inc (SHM). SHM was then established in Sep 2022 with a capital of 10 billion yen, headquartered in Tokyo.

The companies have agreed to joint development and sales of high-value-added electric vehicles and creating a business to provide mobility services.

Key highlights of announcements made so far:

– SHM plans to manufacture its first product at Hondaʼ s North America factory.

– Pre-orders for the first product are planned to begin in the first half of 2025, with sales to commence before the end of 2025.

– Delivery is planned to start in the United States in the spring of 2026, followed by Japan in the second half of 2026.

– For sales, SHM plans to focus on online sales, creating a direct network with customers, also inviting them to take part in the product development process. The company will also provide personalized post-sales customer experience.

– SHM will also provide a new service integrating digital and physical services to form deep relationships with customers across the entire value-chain.

SHM’s EV Concept

SHM has defined the its high value-added EV concept as the 3Aʼ s for Autonomy, Augmentation, and Affinity.

Autonomy: SHM aims to develop Level 3 automated drive under limited conditions and to enable Level 2+ driver assistance in even more situations such as urban driving. Planned hardware includes high-performance SoC (system on a chip) with total processing power exceeding 800 TOPS (tera operations per second).

Augmentation: A new HMI (human-machine interface) will be introduced, providing a personalized in-car experience through cloud-service connectivity. SHM aims to evolve mobility space into entertainment and emotional space, by integrating real and virtual worlds, and exploring new entertainment possibilities through digital innovations such as the metaverse.

High-performance integrated ECUs (electronic control unit) including two latest-generation SoCs for HMI/IVI (in-vehicle infotainment) system combined with AD/ADAS (Automated Drive / Advanced Driving Assistant System) ECU are planned to replace conventional ECUs.

Affinity: Open community for customers, industry partners, leading players in other industries, and the creative community. SHM will design a comprehensive service architecture that positions mobility as a mobility experience service, incorporating an integrated service framework that is consistent throughout from in-vehicle software to cloud-based software.

Company Overview

Company name	Sony Honda Mobility Inc
Location	Minato-ku, Tokyo, Japan
Capital	10 billion yen
Investment ratio	Sony Group Corporation 50%, Honda Motor Co., Ltd. 50%
Established	Sep 2022