Sony, Honda scale back EV venture after Afeela halt
FILE PHOTO: A Sony-Honda Afeela 1 Signature electric vehicle is displayed during CES 2025, an annual consumer electronics trade show, in Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S. January 8, 2025. REUTERS/Steve Marcus/File Photo
TOKYO, April 21 : Sony Group, Honda Motor and their joint venture Sony Honda Mobility said on Tuesday they have decided to scale down the venture's operations, after scrapping plans for its Afeela electric vehicles last month.
• Employees at Sony Honda Mobility are expected to be reassigned to the parent companies, the firms said in a joint statement.
• The companies said they concluded it would be difficult, under the current framework, to bring products and services aligned with the JV's founding purpose to the market in the short to medium term.
• They said they remain committed to delivering value to the user experience through software, even as the JV's activities are reduced.
• Sony Honda Mobility said in March it would stop developing the Afeela cars, following Honda's review of its electrification strategy.
• The JV was established in 2022 to combine the automaker's engineering and manufacturing capabilities with Sony's expertise in software and gaming.
