LAS VEGAS – Sony Honda Mobility, a joint enterprise involving the automaker and customer electronics huge declared right here past year at CES, will kick off with consumers in 2026 with a sedan less than a newly cast Afeela brand name.
“Afeela expresses an interactive connection in which folks ‘feel’ mobility as an clever entity, and mobility ‘feels’ individuals and culture working with sensing and network IT technologies,” the enterprise suggests.
The two firms agreed to bring out automobiles, which will not essentially be limited to 4-wheel vehicles above time, less than a new title fairly than co-brand the vehicles that enter showrooms and other retail venues in the upcoming.
By accomplishing so, Honda, for illustration, sidesteps possessing to fold the distribution of the cars into the current Honda seller community and franchise agreements. The breadth of where by the Afeela motor vehicles will be marketed has not been detailed.
Honda executives have said they have no intention of chopping its dealers out. But the arrangement gives both equally Honda and Sony versatility on how they provide and distribute.
The new manufacturer also offers individuals a new practical experience to latch on to, or not, with a automobile that appears like it will reward from Honda’s engineering and top quality prowess, though transcend the driving and possession practical experience of latest types from the Japanese automaker.
Automakers have a very long heritage of launching new models if it feels like the aged brand name will not serve upcoming merchandise properly. Honda was the first Japanese automobile brand name to start a luxurious model in Acura, adopted by Toyota’s Lexus and Nissan’s Infiniti and Hyundai’s Genesis. Back in the late 1980s, Standard Motors released the Geo sub-manufacturer, a corral of joint enterprise vehicles the automaker designed with Asian automakers.
But people models all offered through traditional dealerships. There is a pattern among new battery-electrical-car or truck models these as Tesla and Rivian to bypass the standard dealership networks as a expanding range of individuals appear intrigued in shopping for immediate from companies and skipping the supplier expertise.
The 4-doorway Afeela sedan attributes simple, if exquisite, styling that is equipped with a large suite of electronics. The two firms are tranquil about what arrives soon after the original car or truck, but it helps make sense to count on a crossover to follow taking into consideration that segment is the speediest increasing even though sedans have been in drop.
The Afeela BEV incorporates 45 sensors made by Sony inside and out, including cameras, radar and lidar to permit its security, semi-autonomous driving and interactive devices.
The inside options electronic displays of a style that are surely new for Honda, spanning the dashboard, two extra for the rear passengers and video camera sideview mirrors, which are legal in some nations around the world, but not however in the U.S.
The electronics in the car or truck are operate by the Qualcomm Snapdragon Electronic Chassis and use infotainment software program produced by Epic Online games.
The firms are holding again powertrain requirements, pricing, driving selection, projected output degrees and geographic markets of availability, as very well as wherever the vehicle will be made.

Honda also is launching the all-new electric Prologue SUV in partnership with GM, and is setting up its possess electric auto and battery production plants in Ohio.
