The Liberty Daily 
(The Epoch Times)—Sony Honda Mobility Inc., a joint venture between Sony Group Corp. and Honda Motor Co., Ltd., announced on March 25 that it was canceling the planned development of two luxury electric vehicles (EVs) due to Honda’s recent pivot away from the EV market.
Honda and Sony teamed up in 2022 with the goal of developing the AFEELA luxury electric vehicle loaded with Sony technology and advanced features to create a highly personalized driving experience, the company said.
Sony Honda Mobility’s AFEELA1 sedan had a starting price of $90,000, and was slated to include 360-degree audio technology, advanced artificial intelligence driving capabilities, and integration with Sony’s PlayStation 5 mobile gaming platform so front- and rear-seat passengers could stream movies or play video games while the car is moving.
Sony Honda Mobility in January said it had initiated trial production runs of the AFEELA1 model at the Honda Development & Manufacturing of America LLC East Liberty Auto Plant in East Liberty, Ohio. As recently as March 16, the company heralded the grand opening of a new AFEELA design studio and delivery hub in Torrance, California. The company has additional design studios in the California cities of Beverly Hills, Century City, San Diego, and San Jose.
However, Sony, Honda, and Sony Honda Mobility said on March 25 that the three entities will now evaluate the future business direction of the joint venture.
“As a result of Honda’s reassessment of its automobile electrification strategy and factoring the changes to the EV market, the underlying assumptions of [Sony Honda Mobility’s] business operations such as the utilization of certain technologies and assets planned to be provided by Honda were fundamentally altered, resulting in the announcement by [Sony Honda Mobility] today to discontinue the development and launch of its first model, AFEELA1, and its second model,” Sony Honda Mobility said.
The mid- to long-term positioning and direction of the joint venture has yet to be determined, and the companies will jointly evaluate the venture’s initial purpose and future contributions to mobile technology in light of shifting consumer demand for electric vehicles, Sony and Honda said.
Customers in the United States who had placed reservations on AFEELA vehicles will receive full refunds, Sony Honda Mobility said in a statement.
The joint venture’s termination of the AFEELA lineup came after Honda announced sweeping changes to its corporate EV strategy on March 12. Honda said it was canceling the planned launch of the battery-operated Honda 0 sport utility vehicle and Honda 0 Saloon sedan, as well as a fully electric Acura RSX, following record losses in its EV business that could tally more than $15 billion for the fiscal year ending March 31.
Honda is expected to post its first annual loss since the company launched on the Tokyo Stock Exchange in 1957.
