Electronics powerhouse Sony shocked the industry several years ago when it not only confirmed it was entering the EV wars, but that it was also making their own vehicles as part of a joint-venture with Honda.

Dubbed Afeela, the sedan provided a glimpse into what a potential fruit of the partnership (called Sony Honda Mobility) could bring to customers with an SUV concept making its debut earlier this year at CES in Las Vegas. But the EV market is undergoing a contraction and with Honda taking heavy losses, the two companies revealed they will abort development of both the Afeela sedan and SUV.

A sign of the times

SHM’s confirmation came in a brief statement it released this morning stating ‘As a result of Honda’s reassessment of its automobile electrification strategy announced on March 12, 2026 and factoring the changes to the EV market, the underlying assumptions of SHM’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 SHM today to discontinue the development and launch of its first model, AFEELA1, and its second model.’

In addition to aborting both projects, Honda and Sony will also “review SHM’s business direction.” This dubious bonus prize paints a grim future for the venture but Honda’s separate confirmation of its decision to kill its own EVs put a spotlight on SHM and whether it could still proceed as an ongoing concern. This latest announcement appears to all but confirm that without Honda providing the fundamentals, there was no point in moving forward.

The news comes at a time when SHM was supposed to kickoff customer deliveries of the sedan with the first ones being scheduled for later this year. This first wave was to be the $102,900 Signature trim with the “more affordable” $89,900 Origin model appearing in 2027. The SUV was firmly in the show vehicle phase and SHM was already pretty vague about when it would enter production in chats we had with reps at CES.

What’s next?

A key takeaway here is that while the EVs are being axed, the venture itself is not breaking up (for now) with both companies saying they will announce plans to look at “mid- to long-term positioning, as well as contributions to the future of mobility, at the earliest possible opportunity.”

While we get to wait a bit to hear exactly what that statement will produce in terms of sustainable announcements, there is a small chance some of the technology that these cars displayed could trickle their way into future Honda products but only time will tell. In the meantime, Afeela is the latest tombstone in a growing graveyard of failed EV startups including Lordstown Motors, Fisker, and more obscure ones like INDI, Canoo, and Bollinger Motors.