The age of electronic companies making cars is starting to become a reality. While the emergence of the Apple car is still unclear at this point, Japanese tech giant Sony is inching forward with the help of another Japanese car company, Honda.
Honda and Sony announced their plan to create a joint venture to build EVs back in March. Now, both firms agree that the said joint venture will be better off as an independent, standalone company.
"We shared the view that it is better to make the joint venture independent, in the long run, rather than putting it under Sony or Honda," Sony President and CEO Kenichiro Yoshida told Nikkei Asia.
Gallery: Sony Vision-S 02 SUV Concept
Although he mentioned that the joint venture may have an initial public share offering, Yoshida didn't disclose any details about the plan. The selling of stake supports the plan to become an independent company, Nikkei Asia reports.
In the previous announcement, the scheduled plan is to build and sell the EV by 2025. Honda will be in charge of building the vehicle at one of its factories. Sony, on the other hand, will be developing and providing the platform to the automaker. It's unclear whether the upcoming Honda-Sony EV will be connected to the Vision-S concepts.
Of note, Sony has already introduced two concept EVs, namely the Vision-S sedan and Vision-S SUV. Both vehicles were created in collaboration with the biggest names out there in manufacturing such as Magna Steyr, Bosch, ZF, Continental, Nvidia, and Qualcomm.
The Sony EV concepts look promising on paper. Powered by two electric motors, the combined output is 536 horsepower (400 kilowatts). The sedan will be a four-seater, while the SUV is touted to hold seven seats.
