Sony and Honda tease their first EV

Sony and Honda have formally joined forces and established Sony Honda Mobility (SHM), a new mobility brand due to preview its first vehicle at the 2023 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) on January 4.

Details of the inaugural model are thin on the ground for the time being but the new brand has at least provided the world with an initial teaser showing the bonnet line and at least part of its side skirts.

No other hints, previews or titbits of intel are included beyond the confirmation of the show car’s CES appearance.

Posted to YouTube overnight, the teaser clip coincided with the official launch of the new coalition, which executives say “aims to become a software-oriented ‘Mobility Tech Company’ by providing high value-added products and services, and by building new relations with customers”.

Production of the new model will start in late 2025 at Honda’s North American facilities ahead of a second-quarter 2026 launch in the US launch and an eventual Japanese launch later that year.

Pre-orders will open in the first half of 2025, ahead of full purchases commencing closer to the official production start.

Given both Sony and Honda’s reputations for innovation, it goes without saying the first model from Sony Honda Mobility will be loaded up to the roofline with technology, including autonomous driving functionality.

“The company aims to develop cutting-edge technologies to appeal to people’s emotions and behaviours, realising revolutionary mobility to move people and their emotions,” said SHM.

“Based on a common principle both Sony and Honda hold, to contribute to and lead the evolution of mobility, SHM has defined the its high value-added EV concept as the 3As for Autonomy, Augmentation, and Affinity.”

Pre-orders and sales will predominantly be online, as will be the ‘personalised’ post-sales customer experience, said SHM.

Given the obvious North American and Japanese focus it’s unlikely Australia will be one of SHM’s major markets, but the planned launch in the Land of the Rising Sun bodes well for our chances of eventually seeing some right-hand drive models sold here.