Honda will build driving PlayStation
Cooperation between Honda and Sony
Honda and Sony have been flirting for some time when it comes to building a car. The two companies took the first step on March 4 this year by signing a letter of intent for a “strategic alliance in the field of mobility. On June 16, the joint venture was officially established, and now Sony Honda Mobility (SHM) announces that the first car will be unveiled in 2025 and enter the market in 2026.
Electric car Honda and Sony
What kind of car that first electric car from Sony and Honda will be is not yet clear. Given the current market, an SUV is the obvious choice, but a low, ultra-efficient sedan or liftback could also be an option. The intended specifications are not yet clear. SHM says software will play an important role in at least the first production model. The same goes for the infotainment system: according to SHM, it will include “digital innovations such as the metaverse.
In addition to the software, autonomous driving also plays an important role in SHM’s first car. The car should be able to drive autonomously at Level 3 “under certain conditions. That means the car cannot yet drive fully autonomously, but on certain stretches of highway the driver can take his or her hands off the wheel to let the car do the work.
Also to Europe?
When SHM’s still unnamed car will be unveiled is not yet clear. In any case, it can be reserved in the first half of 2025 by potential customers in America and Japan. It should then hit the market in America in the spring of 2026 and be in Japanese showrooms in the second half of 2026. The car will be produced at “a Honda plant in North America,” but SHM did not reveal which plant that would be. Presumably that’s Honda’s new “EV hub” in Ohio, in which the auto brand is investing $4.4 billion.
Whether SHM’s car(s) will eventually be marketed in Europe is not yet clear. A European market launch is reportedly being considered, however. So wait and see…
Previous electric car from Sony
Before the collaboration with Honda got underway, Sony already showed a number of electric concept cars: the Vision-S 01 and 02. The former is pictured here and is a streamlined low electric liftback, the Vision-S 02, on the contrary, is more of a crossover. It could well be that Honda and Sony’s first model will be based on one of these two study models, but they are still keeping their mouths shut about that.
