Sony Honda Mobility. is a Japanese joint venture automotive company established by Sony Group Corporation and Honda Motor Company in 2022 to produce battery electric vehicles. The company will market its vehicles under the  brand.

The company plans to take pre-orders in the first half of 2025 and deliver the first cars to customers in North America in spring 2026. Production of the vehicle will take place at one of Honda's plants in the U.S.

History 
In January 2020, Sony revealed its first electric sedan prototype at the 53rd Consumer Electronics Show. The vehicle was called the Sony Vision-S. According to the company, the Vision-S incorporates Sony's imaging and sensing technologies. In contrast, Sony's artificial intelligence, telecommunication, and cloud computing technologies enable the continued updating and evolution of the vehicle's features. A second concept car, an electric SUV was unveiled in January 2022 at the 55th Consumer Electronics Show as the Vision-S 02, while the original concept was retroactively renamed to Vision-S 01.

In April 2022, Sony established Sony Mobility Inc. as their mobility service arm.

In March 2022, Sony and Honda signed a memorandum of understanding to deepen the discussion and exploration of forming a strategic alliance between the two companies. In June 2022, while still in the process of negotiating the details of the partnership, both companies announced that their joint venture company would be called "Sony Honda Mobility Inc." The company was led by Yasuhide Mizuno, who served as the head of Honda's China division until 2020.

The company was officially announced through a press conference on October 13, 2022. According to the company, it aims to become a software-oriented "Mobility Tech Company".

On January 5, 2023, the company revealed its first electric vehicle prototype under the brand name Afeela at the 56th Consumer Electronics Show. The prototype was a four-door sedan that was planned to be produced in the U.S. in 2026. The car features Level 3 automated driving capabilities under limited conditions.

On January 6, 2025, the company revealed the production version of the prototype, called the Afeela 1, at the 57th Consumer Electronics Show. Deliveries of the vehicle are expected to begin in mid-2026, and refundable reservations were opened.

Models

Afeela 1 

In January 2023 at CES, the concept version of the Afeela 1, the Afeela prototype, was revealed. It is a four-door sedan that was announced to be available for pre-order in the first half of 2025, while initial shipments will be delivered to customers in North America in the spring of 2026. It has 45 cameras and sensors inside and outside the vehicle to ensure its safety and security. It will utilize Qualcomm Snapdragon SoC hardware to run its infotainment systems, while the cockpit and software architecture has been developed by Elektrobit Automotive, who also collaborated with Sony on software and UX for the Sony Vision-S, its first prototype. The company will also integrate Epic Games' Unreal Engine into the vehicle's infotainment systems. The car will be manufactured at one of Honda's North American plants.

The Afeela prototype appears as a playable vehicle in Gran Turismo 7, added to the game in version 1.46.

References

External links 

 

Sony
Honda
Car manufacturers of Japan
Manufacturing companies based in Tokyo
Joint ventures
Japanese companies established in 2022
Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 2022
Electric vehicle manufacturers of Japan
Battery electric vehicle manufacturers