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The Financial Times reported on the 21st that Yasuhide Mizuno, CEO of Sony Honda Mobility, said at the company's Tokyo headquarters that the development speed of Chinese competitors exceeded his expectations. He warned that Japanese automakers are "very scared" of the rapid development of electric vehicles in China, and if they cannot innovate faster, they may become just "followers."

Yasuhide Mizuno, CEO, Sony Honda Mobility Financial Times

Yasuhide Mizuno was in charge of Honda's business in China until 2020.

Mizuno said Chinese competitors were moving much faster than he expected, estimating that the development time for electric vehicles in China, from concept to production, has been reduced to 18 months, less than half the time it takes to develop a car in Japan.

He believes Japanese companies need to change their conservative corporate culture and called on Japanese companies to make breakthroughs in manufacturing to keep up with Chinese competitors, which have become the world's leading auto exporters in just a few years.

"Chinese competitors are very strong, and I am very worried about their speed of execution," said Mizuno. "Japanese automakers are always a little nervous or overthinking before launching a car. We need to change this behavior, otherwise China will be No. 1 and we will always be followers."

Honda has lagged behind rivals in the global race to electric vehicles despite setting a goal of phasing out gasoline cars by 2040. In March, the company agreed to work with Nissan to develop electric vehicles in a bid to survive competition with high-tech, low-cost models from China.

According to the Sony website, Sony Honda Mobility (SHM) was established in 2022, with Honda and Sony each holding a 50% stake, with the goal of combining Honda's automotive manufacturing strength with Sony's software and entertainment expertise. The company's mission is to "lead innovation with diverse inspirations and move people", and hopes to interpret the concept of high value-added electric vehicles as 3A, namely "Autonomy, Augmentation, and Affinity", and will use cutting-edge technology to realize this concept.

Sony Honda Mobile's founding ceremony was held at the event. Its Representative Director, Chairman and CEO Yasuhide Mizuno and Representative Director, President and COO Izumi Kawanishi jointly announced the company's founding. Sony website

SHM's first electric vehicle product will be available for pre-order in the first half of 2025 and will go on sale before the end of 2025. The company will deliver the product to the US market in the spring of 2026 and to the Japanese market in the second half of 2026.

"Since Chinese-made electric vehicles cannot enter the United States, (American) consumer choices will be limited." Mizuno Yasuhide also said, "But I will not be happy because Chinese cars cannot enter the (American) market. I think we should launch a car that can compete directly with Chinese competitors."

Sony Honda's high-end car "Afeela" is designed to demonstrate how software can be integrated into the manufacturing process. The model is targeted at "rich geeks" and will not be mass-produced.

In 2023, Yasuhide Mizuno introduced the "Afeela" concept car CNN

Yasuhide Mizuno said Japanese automakers should not rest on their laurels after the United States raised tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles to 100%, effectively shutting out companies such as BYD and NIO.

Although the rapid growth of electric vehicles has slowed recently, Mizuno said he still expects electric vehicles to dominate car sales in the United States, China and Europe by 2035.

The report believes that Sony will benefit from the joint venture with Honda because it will be closer to the car manufacturing process and promote the sales of its image sensors in the automotive industry. However, many analysts question whether Honda can benefit from this cooperation.

Mizuno said the joint venture would be equally valuable to Honda because it would gain software development expertise from Sony engineers.

“Software could be the new weapon in the vehicle development process,” he said.

This article is an exclusive article of Observer.com and may not be reproduced without authorization.