Image: Sony
Honda, Toyota, and other members of the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association (JAMA) on Thursday welcomed electronics giant Sony to the car business with hopes the debutant will help revitalize the industry in a time of uncertainty, supply chain issues, and a tumultuous chip shortage — reports Automotive News.
At the 2022 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas earlier this month, Sony CEO Kenichiro Yoshida announced the establishment of Sony Mobility Inc., and at the same time unveiled a concept for the new company’s first electric vehicle (EV), the Vision-S.
While not much is known in the way of pricing or launch dates for the Vision-S, the announcement has cemented Sony as the latest entrant to the automotive manufacturing industry, which is being shaken up globally by new names like Rivian, Lucid Motors, and NIO.
JAMA Vice-Chairman Toshihiro Mibe, who is also the CEO of Japan’s Honda Motor Co., said veteran carmakers are expecting big names from other industries to break into the auto sector, and Sony is Japan’s latest prospect for the job.
“You already see in Europe, the United States and China many new players coming into EV manufacturing. Sony is one of them,” Mibe said at a regular JAMA briefing on Thursday. “Having additional players in the industry brings about positive competition.”
The Honda CEO went on to say that “a new entry like Sony will really revitalize the industry.”
Akio Toyoda, JAMA Chairman and President of Toyota Motor Corp., extended an invite to Sony and said he expects the electronics maker to eventually join the Japanese auto industry organization.
Sony’s foray into automotive manufacturing will likely draw heavily from the company’s expertise in digital and software technology while outsourcing the manufacturing of the car itself to a third party. This is a similar approach to what fellow tech giant Apple started out with for its “Project Titan” EV, before deciding to take matters into its own hands late last year.
As we head into a new era of electrification and even more companies take a crack at making their own cars, Mibe speculated that several different approaches toward manufacturing will coexist within the auto industry.
The traditional, vertically integrated approach to automotive manufacturing practiced by industry veterans like Honda, General Motors, and Volkswagen will likely coexist with horizontally aligned or decentralized manufacturing strategies from newcomers like Sony.
“There’s going to be a combination of different, coexisting manufacturing approaches,” Mibe said. “So, in that sense, we are very positive about all the change in the industry.”
