Sony Honda Mobility cancels Afeela EV

Sony Honda Mobility, a joint venture between Sony and Honda, has announced the discontinuation of its Afeela electric vehicle development, including the Afeela 1 sedan and a planned SUV. This decision follows Honda's major reassessment of its EV strategy, which included a potential writedown of up to 2.5 trillion yen ($15.7 billion) and fundamentally altered the underlying assumptions for Sony Honda Mobility's operations. The joint venture stated that without the essential technologies and platform assets from Honda, there was no longer a viable path to bring the Afeela models to market. Sony Honda Mobility will issue full refunds to customers in California who had reserved the Afeela 1. While the project is canceled, Sony and Honda will continue discussions regarding the future direction of their joint venture. The event underscores the difficulties faced by new entrants in the EV market, which is dominated by established players like Tesla, Inc. and affordable Chinese competition such as BYD Company, amidst weakening demand in some regions and scaled-back support for EVs.