- Honda and Sony are no longer working on the Afeela EV.
- Development of the Afeela 1 sedan has stalled.
- Plans for an electric SUV have also been scrapped.
Sony surprised everyone when it ventured into the car world at CES 2020 with an electric sedan, followed a year later by an SUV. The tech giant teamed up with Honda in 2022, establishing the joint venture Sony Honda Mobility (SHM) to take the concept to production. However, that is no longer the case because sedans and SUVs will never be sold.
Development of both vehicles came to an abrupt end, although the decision was not entirely surprising. Earlier this month, Honda canceled two of its own electric vehicles and a third model that was supposed to revive the Acura RSX. In a joint statement released today, Honda and Sony said the major changes the automaker is making to its electric car strategy also affect the Afeela-branded models the joint venture will sell.
“As a result of Honda’s reassessment of its auto electrification strategy announced on March 12, 2026 and considering changes to the electric vehicle market, the assumptions underlying SHM’s business operations such as the utilization of certain technologies and assets that Honda plans to provide changed fundamentally, resulting in SHM announcing today that it is discontinuing the development and launch of the first model, AFEELA1, and the second model.”
Afeela SUV prototype
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Photo by: Afeela
Not only that, the two parties will “review SHM’s business direction”. While this may paint a bleak picture of the joint venture’s fate, Sony and Honda are not breaking up. The companies intend to announce “their position in the medium and long term, as well as their contribution to the future of mobility, as early as possible.”
SHM should begin shipping the Afeela 1 to customers later this year. The launch trim was the $102,900 Signature, with the more affordable $89,900 Origin slated to debut in 2027, but those plans obviously won’t come to fruition. Pre-production has started at Honda’s East Liberty Auto Plant in Ohio, so a car cancellation this late doesn’t bode well for a joint venture founded less than four years ago.
