The Sony Honda Mobility joint venture has essentially provided annual updates for the Afeela EV prototype, ever since it’s initial reveal. This year was no exception either, as the two companies announced the SUV variant of the electric car. But, in a scant two months since, it looks like the project as a whole in in jeopardy. The JV announced it will “discontinue the development and launch of its first model, Afeela 1, and its second model. At the same time, Sony, Honda and SHM have determined to review SHM’s business direction”.
That, in pretty definite terms, spells the doom of the Afeela 1. And while the JV doesn’t quite specify what the second model is, chances are it’s the recent SUV variant. The companies “intend to jointly announce SHM’s future direction, mid to long-term positioning as well as contributions to the future of mobility at the earliest possible opportunity”.
And it’s a pretty grim future, if the situation at Honda is any indication. The carmaker expects its first annual loss in almost 70 years, blaming it on the EV market. Or more specifically, the situation around it. This includes things like the US ending tax credits for EVs the laxing of fossil fuel regulations. These have made it “extremely difficult to ensure profitability in our EV models”. This also resulted in the canning of three models that were about to hit US production lines. The car brand is also writing down its EV business in China, where it recognised difficulty in competing with local OEMs.
Indeed, SHM just about directly pins the axing of the Afeela by SHM on Honda’s reassessing of its EV strategy. Of course, the JV also points to the “changes in the EV market” in general. But with the actual carmaker between those two companies losing confidence in EVs, the fate of the Afeela, if not the JV as a whole, seems only a nails away from being sealed.
