Sony Honda Mobility, the automotive enterprise from two of Japan’s most storied corporations, has swung the axe on its EV venture. In a statement, it mentioned it could “discontinue the event and launch” of the Afeela 1 and a couple of, its long-in-development electrical vehicles. The corporate added it could overview its “enterprise path,” and announce its future plans “on the earliest potential alternative.” Which, if we’re sincere, in all probability means the entire thing goes to be shut down, or scaled again a lot it’s not price speaking about.
2026 has not been an amazing 12 months for Honda. On March 12, it posted an up-to $15.7 billion loss because it wrote off an enormous chunk of its funding in EVs. The US’ pivot towards fossil fuels, removing of federal EV tax credit and the imposition of tariffs has hit its enterprise fairly arduous. To not point out the high-profile embarrassment of its present F1 engine venture with Aston Martin, which promised a lot and has delivered lower than nothing.
Sony’s journey into the automotive world started six years in the past with the announcement of the Imaginative and prescient-S, the automotive which might ultimately be re-christened Afeela. However whereas the product seemed good on commerce present stands, it stood nonetheless whereas the remainder of the automotive world sprinted forward. In January, Tim Stevens said Afeela 1 seemed somewhat dated, and somewhat missing in emotion, and much more costly than comparable fashions from rivals. It’s additionally price noting Sony and Honda’s imaginative and prescient of a sensible machine on wheels is hardly a novel idea nowadays.
To not point out that Afeela 1 is a sedan, being offered to a world that’s more and more fallen out of affection with the sort in favor of higher-riding SUVs. In Sony’s assertion, nonetheless, the SUV-aping Afeela 2 did not even get a point out by title, which hints that it was as a lot an afterthought for the corporate as we’d have guessed when it was introduced.
