{"id":67388,"date":"2026-01-28T15:20:40","date_gmt":"2026-01-28T18:20:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ces.einnews.com\/article\/887317499"},"modified":"2026-01-28T15:20:40","modified_gmt":"2026-01-28T18:20:40","slug":"sony-honda-mobility-partners-aligned-on-ev-vision","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/2026\/01\/28\/sony-honda-mobility-partners-aligned-on-ev-vision\/","title":{"rendered":"Sony Honda Mobility partners aligned on EV vision"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"text-to-speech\"> <button class=\"text-to-speech__button button\"> <img data-opt-id=758893364  fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP\/\/\/ywAAAAAAQABAAACAUwAOw==\" fifu-lazy=\"1\" fifu-data-sizes=\"auto\" fifu-data-srcset=\"https:\/\/i3.wp.com\/www.wardsauto.com\/static\/img\/play.svg?500116090725&ssl=1&w=75&resize=75&ssl=1 75w, https:\/\/i3.wp.com\/www.wardsauto.com\/static\/img\/play.svg?500116090725&ssl=1&w=100&resize=100&ssl=1 100w, https:\/\/i3.wp.com\/www.wardsauto.com\/static\/img\/play.svg?500116090725&ssl=1&w=150&resize=150&ssl=1 150w, https:\/\/i3.wp.com\/www.wardsauto.com\/static\/img\/play.svg?500116090725&ssl=1&w=240&resize=240&ssl=1 240w, https:\/\/i3.wp.com\/www.wardsauto.com\/static\/img\/play.svg?500116090725&ssl=1&w=320&resize=320&ssl=1 320w, https:\/\/i3.wp.com\/www.wardsauto.com\/static\/img\/play.svg?500116090725&ssl=1&w=500&resize=500&ssl=1 500w, https:\/\/i3.wp.com\/www.wardsauto.com\/static\/img\/play.svg?500116090725&ssl=1&w=640&resize=640&ssl=1 640w, https:\/\/i3.wp.com\/www.wardsauto.com\/static\/img\/play.svg?500116090725&ssl=1&w=800&resize=800&ssl=1 800w, https:\/\/i3.wp.com\/www.wardsauto.com\/static\/img\/play.svg?500116090725&ssl=1&w=1024&resize=1024&ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i3.wp.com\/www.wardsauto.com\/static\/img\/play.svg?500116090725&ssl=1&w=1280&resize=1280&ssl=1 1280w, https:\/\/i3.wp.com\/www.wardsauto.com\/static\/img\/play.svg?500116090725&ssl=1&w=1600&resize=1600&ssl=1 1600w\" class=\"text-to-speech__button__icon\" fifu-data-src=\"https:\/\/i3.wp.com\/www.wardsauto.com\/static\/img\/play.svg?500116090725&ssl=1\" alt> Listen to the article <span class=\"text-to-speech__button__audio-length\">4 min<\/span> <\/button> <\/p>\n<div class=\"text-to-speech__controls\"> <audio controls class=\"js-text-to-speech\" preload=\"none\">  <\/audio> <\/p>\n<div class=\"text-to-speech__controls__text\"> This audio is auto-generated. Please let us know if you have <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wardsauto.com\/contact\/\">feedback<\/a>. <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>LAS VEGAS \u2014 If opposites attract and ultimately make for good marriages, then Sony Honda Mobility very well may be on solid footing.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>It would be difficult to point to an odder couple united in an automotive joint venture than consumer-electronics company Sony and Honda Motor Co.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>In 2019, when rumors first began to surface Sony was considering producing a battery-electric vehicle of its own, capable of high levels of autonomous driving and designed around a state-of-the-art-infotainment system, it set tongues wagging throughout the industry. Was the Japanese electronics giant serious? Could it really pull it off?&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>By then, Sony already had begun assembling a cadre of technology partners to help create its Sony Vision concept vehicle, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.motor1.com\/news\/391401\/sony-vision-s-concept-car\/\">sprung on the world for the first time at CES 2020<\/a>. The list of collaborators included chip and solutions supplier Qualcomm, systems-integration specialist Elektrobit, mapping company HERE Technologies and gaming developer Polyphony Digital.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Still, many doubted Sony would join the ranks of upstart car manufacturers. The Vision concept, many contended, was simply a demonstration of what an infotainment-centric car of the future might look like and what Sony\u2019s role might be in creating it.<\/p>\n<p>But any remaining skepticism vanished in 2022, when the electronics company announced it would collaborate in a new JV with Honda to build and market the car under the newly created Afeela brand.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>This month, the final production version of the Afeela 1 sedan was rolled out on the CES stage, along with a prototype for a second model that could come as early as 2028, as Sony Honda Mobility announced <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wardsauto.com\/news\/sony-honda-mobility-of-americas-ceo-remains-confident-in-ev-market\/809396\/\">additional plans to expand its market reach<\/a> beyond California and Japan to Arizona.<\/p>\n<p>However, with such disparate backgrounds, Sony and Honda unquestionably have widely diverse objectives when it comes to their JV. Honda wants to monetize its manufacturing operations, so selling cars in volume is its ultimate goal. Its partner wants to distribute movies, music and gaming and keep its customers in the fold as they turn in greater numbers to in-vehicle entertainment. For Sony, it may be more important Afeela serve as entree into other car brands than whether it does well on its own.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Despite that, Sony Honda Mobility of America President and CEO Shugo Yamaguchi, who comes to the JV from Sony, told WardsAuto on the sidelines of CES 2026 the partners are well-aligned on the fledgling auto company\u2019s path.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat we\u2019re trying to go for in creating this new technology, that\u2019s something we have a shared vision about,\u201d he said, speaking through an interpreter. \u201cAnd we have a shared vision in how we want to overcome our challenges as well.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Yamaguchi acknowledged he\u2019s been involved in several joint ventures while at Sony, but compared to those, he said: \u201cThis has been the fastest experience in the merging of cultures and of people just coming together and working together.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>That doesn\u2019t mean it\u2019s been without hurdles. Even for Honda, the Afeela development program, so heavily reliant on outside engineering and design input from its ecosystem of tech suppliers, represented a huge adjustment.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think the people that came into this from Honda had a really tough time probably from the get-go,\u201d Yamaguchi said. \u201cThey had to change their mindset \u2014 and they were able to do that. But at the same time, the people from Sony didn\u2019t understand the difficulties of creating and manufacturing a vehicle, that basically you\u2019re putting someone\u2019s life into the hands of the vehicle.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Yamaguchi acknowledged some differences in ways of working have sparked conversation among colleagues.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s been so much discussion around why this is common sense for you when it\u2019s not common sense for us, and why is this a practice that\u2019s standard for us but not standard for you,\u201d he said.&nbsp;\u201cWe\u2019re having so much conversation about that.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The next objective, he said, will be to learn from other employees who have come from outside of both Sony and Honda and continue the JV\u2019s evolution.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<section class=\"storylines-carousel-wrapper hide-small show-large\" id=\"desktop-carousel\"><\/section>\n<p>\u201cThe next phase is going to be incorporating their knowledge, their know-how and their culture, and infuse that with what we\u2019re doing,\u201d he said, adding \u201cthere have been so many surprises,\u201d but Sony Honda Mobility is working its way through them.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/blockads.fivefilters.org\"> <\/a><\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/blockads.fivefilters.org\/acceptable.html\"> <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8230; an automotive joint venture than <span class=\"match\">consumer-electronics<\/span> company Sony and Honda Motor &#8230; for the first time at <span class=\"match\">CES<\/span> 2020. The list of collaborators &#8230; was rolled out on the <span class=\"match\">CES<\/span> stage, along with a prototype &#8230; WardsAuto on the sidelines of <span class=\"match\">CES<\/span> 2026 the partners are well &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-67388","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","wpcat-1-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67388","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=67388"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67388\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=67388"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=67388"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=67388"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}