Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation, Sony Corporation is planning to latch on the electric vehicle market this spring, as the company looks set to harness its expertise in entertainment and sensors to play a bigger role in next-generation mobility.
Chairman and President of Sony, Kenichiro Yoshida speaking ahead of the CES technology trade fair in the United States told a news conference that the new company named Sony Mobility Inc was created as Sony ‘explores a commercial launch’ of electric vehicles.
In his words:
“With our imaging and sensing, cloud, 5G and entertainment technologies combined with our contents mastery, we believe Sony is well positioned as a creative entertainment company to redefine mobility,” he said.
Sony which has in the past ruled the global consumer electronics market has its influence wane in the last few years, with the rise of Asian rivals like South Korea’s Samsung Electronics Co, threatening its once-dominant position in the electronics market.
But the company expectedly still has an arsenal of sophisticated technology in areas such as sensors critical to autonomous driving and would be hoping to build on this. Sony remains one of the world’s biggest entertainment companies, and has prominent video game and movie franchises. With Audio and entertainment systems an increasing a focus for next-generation vehicles, it behoves a perfect opportunity for the Japanese brand to position itself in the production of EVs.
In the aftermath of the electric vehicle plans by the company, Sony shares jumped to 4.2 percent in Tokyo, easily a flat Nikkei index.
The Sony President unveiled a prototype sport utility vehicle (SUV), the VISION-S 02, that utilizes the same electric vehicle platform as the previously announced VISION-S 01 coupe that began testing on public roads in Europe from December 2020.
According to Yoshida, the company sees mobility as an “entertainment space” that allows passengers chose individual entertainment options and use 5G internet connections.
With the Wall Street Journal betting heavily on electric cars, especially as the global auto industry is being upended by Tesla Inc, the world’s most valuable automaker, it is high—time the electric car competition heats up to provide good value to the consumers. A couple of investors also expect another global brand, Apple Inc to launch its own vehicle in the coming years.
Toyota Motor Corp has also in December last year committed a whopping $70 billion to electrify its automobiles by 2030.
Ayoola Faseyi, an Abuja based Journalist with interest in Technology and Politics. He is a versatile writer with articles in many renowned News Journals.
He is the Co-Founder of media brand, The Vent Republic.
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