AutoBeta(AutoBeta.net)03/04 Report--

On March 4, Sony and Honda announced that the two companies would jointly develop and sell high value-added electric car products, with the goal of launching the first model in 2025. The two sides have agreed to set up a joint venture to develop and sell electric vehicles and signed a memorandum of understanding on the deal.

Honda will be responsible for driving performance, manufacturing technology and after-sales service management, while Sony will be responsible for developing entertainment, network and other mobile services, according to the press release.

Honda CEO Toshihiro said: "although Sony and Honda have many historical and cultural similarities, our areas of technical expertise are very different. Therefore, I believe that this alliance combines the advantages of our two companies and provides great possibilities for the future of mobile travel. " Kenichiro Yoshida, president of Sony Group, said, "it will contribute to the evolution of the transportation field through cooperation with Honda, which has advanced technology in the automobile industry."

This also means that Sony's entry into the electric car market is not alone, it still hopes to work with traditional car companies to realize its dream of building cars.

At the CES show in January, Sony Chairman, President and CEO Kenichiro Yoshida announced that Sony Group will set up a new division, Sony Mobile (Sony Mobility Inc), which is expected to be set up this spring and will focus on the commercialization of electric vehicles. Kenichiro Yoshida said: "We are exploring the commercialization of Sony electric cars."

At the press conference, Sony publicly unveiled the concept model Vision-S. In terms of appearance, the front face of the new car uses a closed flat shape with through-type LED daytime driving lights, and Sony's LOGO is cleverly set in the daytime running lights. In the rear part, the Vision-S uses a through-type LED taillight group, while the rear uses a duck tail shape with a roof slip and an upturned rear. In terms of interior decoration, the overall design of the new car is relatively simple, and the central control adopts a through triple screen design. In configuration, the new car is equipped with large-size wheels, hidden door handles and electronic exterior rearview mirrors. Of course, as a digital technology company, Vision-S has a total of 40 sensors inside and outside the car, which can surround the body 360 degrees, mainly to monitor safety conditions.

Although there are more and more car-building companies, such as Xiaomi, Baidu, Alibaba, Foxconn, Apple, and so on, the new powerful brands born a few years ago, such as NIO, Xiaopeng, ideal, Nezha, and so on, have a stronger and stronger sense of existence. In particular, Tesla is still the dominant player in the electric car market, and with the entry of these technology companies, the competition in this market will become more and more fierce. Of course, it is well known that building cars costs money, and as a world-famous large and comprehensive multinational conglomerate, Sony's announcement of car-building represents a major change in strategic direction. Judging from the past two years and Sony's quiet layout, Sony has accumulated in the electric car industry, and it is clear that Sony's announcement of its entry into the auto industry is also well thought out, but it may also be the trend of the market. According to the mid-term report in 2021, Sony Group achieved operating income of 4.63 trillion yen (about 267.4 billion yuan), an increase of 13.76 percent over the same period last year, and an operating profit of 553.7 billion yen (32 billion yuan), down 2.86 percent from the same period last year. Net profit was 427.5 billion yen (24.7 billion yuan), down 35.79 percent from the same period last year.

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