Sony and Honda have decided to pursue other opportunities through the Japanese firms’ 50-50 joint venture, weeks after cancelling the Afeela 1 electric vehicle (EV), the Nikkei newspaper reported.
Sony Honda Mobility, the joint venture between the Japanese electronics giant and the carmaker, said in March it would stop developing the Afeela cars, citing Honda’s EV strategy overhaul.
The joint venture’s pivot also means determining what to do with its about 400 employees in April, the report said. The parent firms are considering absorbing a portion of these workers.
Both Japanese firms could not be reached immediately for comment outside working hours.
The joint venture was created to pair Honda’s engineering and manufacturing with Sony’s software and gaming capabilities in an effort to catch up with EV rivals. The venture said it would issue full refunds to customers in California who reserved the Afeela 1, its planned first model.
Sony and Honda are discussing non-EV products and services as alternatives and expect to find other applications for Afeela 1 technologies such as an AI assistant and an audio system, the report said.
Sony Honda Mobility may still consider bringing a passenger car to market, Nikkei said.
The Nikkei report follows a Reuters report earlier on Friday that Honda is cutting petrol car production in China, as traditional carmakers cede ground to China’s fast-growing EV makers and scale back legacy petrol operations.
Reuters
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