Japanese electronics firm Sony Group plans to launch a company in spring this year to explore entering the electric vehicle market, signalling ambitions to claim a slice of the fast-growing market for green mobility. 

Announcing the new company, Sony Mobility, in a news conference ahead of the CES technology trade fair in the U.S., Sony's chairman and president, Kenichiro Yoshida, said the company was "exploring a commercial launch" of electric vehicles. 

Shares in Sony jumped 4 percent in morning trade in Tokyo, outpacing a flat Nikkei index.

Sony has already advanced technology in sensors critical to autonomous driving as well as the audio and entertainment systems that are increasingly a focus for next-generation vehicles. 

The launch of Sony Mobility comes after the consumer electronics giant unveiled a prototype sport utility vehicle now being tested on public roads. 

The prototype, the VISION-S 02, uses the same electric vehicle platform as the earlier VISION-S 01 coupe that began testing on public roads in Europe from December 2020.