Sony to launch firm to explore making electric cars
Kenichiro Yoshida, Chairman, President, and CEO of Sony, unveils a brand new prototype of its Vision S concept electric car and announces that the Sony Group is launching a new division – Sony Mobility Inc.
Sony unveiled a new prototype of its Vision-S electric vehicle on Tuesday and announced the formation of a company to investigate entering the rapidly growing market.
The Japanese company, best known for its televisions and video game consoles, will establish the Sony Mobility subsidiary in spring 2022 as it considers entering the market.
Sony CEO Kenichiro Yoshida unveiled the Vision-S 02 at the CES tech show in Las Vegas, a new version of the company's first prototype that has begun road testing.
The electronics behemoth "intends to explore entry into the EV market" through this new division, according to a statement.
Sony uses the Vision-S, which is packed with internal and external sensors, to test its autonomous driving technologies.
In addition, the company is developing entertainment systems.
The electric vehicle sector is still small, accounting for only about 3% of current US sales, but it is attracting a lot of attention and investment.
Such appeal could be seen in General Motors' intention to invest more than $35 billion in electric and self-driving vehicles by 2025.
Authorities in the United States intend to spend billions of dollars to expand the network of charging stations or to encourage people to abandon their fossil-fuel-powered vehicles.