Sony Honda Mobility won’t be building or selling its first electric car, the Afeela 1, and they’re also dropping plans for a second model. This is because Honda has altered its plans for electric vehicles.
Sony and Honda formed Sony Honda Mobility in 2022 to create expensive, electric vehicles and transport services, using Sony’s strengths in software and technology alongside Honda’s car building and engineering skills. The Afeela name was going to be the first important product from this partnership.
But Honda has just announced a revised strategy for going electric and this has considerably altered the situation for Sony Honda Mobility – specifically, what Honda technology and resources they could have. Because of this, the joint company has cancelled the Afeela 1 and is going to look at their business plans again.
They are going back to the original reasons for the partnership and thinking about what Sony Honda Mobility will do in the long run for the future of how we get around. Sony, Honda and Sony Honda Mobility will collaborate to decide what the company will do next and what future products they might offer.
This is a big change. Afeela was going to be a modern, tech-filled electric vehicle aiming for the higher end of the market, and would have strongly featured software, entertainment, and sophisticated systems to help with driving. Now, what happens to Sony Honda Mobility, and if the Afeela brand will come back in some other way, is unclear.
