Sony To Establish Separate Company Focused On Manufacturing Electric Vehicles: What You Need To Know

Japan’s Sony Group Corp SONY said on Wednesday it will launch a mobility company in spring this year as it looks to foray into the electric vehicle space.

What Happened: The Tokyo-based multinational conglomerate that is best known for making video-game consoles and other electronic products said it is well-positioned as a "creative entertainment company" to redefine mobility, given its strength in cloud, sensors and entertainment.

The new company will be named Sony Mobility Inc, the company chairman and president Kenichiro Yoshida said.

Sony showed off a prototype sports utility vehicle (SUV), the VISION-S 02, which is based on the same electric vehicle platform of VISION-S 01 coupe that the company began testing on public roads in Europe in December 2020.

The key Apple Inc AAPL supplier said the new company will make use of the company's artificial intelligence and robotics technologies including the autonomous entertainment robot Aibo.

See Also: Sony, Nvidia, Uber Introduce Electric, Autonomous Auto Concepts At CES

Why It Matters: Electric vehicle space is getting crowded by the day as more players jump into the space currently dominated by Tesla Inc TSLA. Apple, the maker of iPhones and iPads, has been reported to have its own electric vehicle plans though it is yet to make any public announcement on the project.

Apple's electric car project — known as Project Titan, the details of which have not been announced — is reportedly aiming to launch an electric vehicle by 2025.

Price Action: Sony shares closed 1.8% higher at $128.56 a share on Tuesday.

Photo: Courtesy of Sony