CarStation/PlayMobile won’t hit the road after pile-up of tax and competition issues in China and the USA

Sony and Honda have broken up, meaning their joint vision to deliver a revolutionary electric vehicle won’t happen.

The two Japanese giants decided to build a car together in 2022 and formed a company called “Sony Honda Mobility” (SHM) to make it happen. A year later the pair showed off their plans in a prototype called “Afeela” to which Honda provided automotive expertise, and Sony supplied imaging and sensing technology, telecommunications, networks, and the in-car entertainment experience.

Afeela proposed a software-defined car that allowed drivers to customize the many interior displays with their preferred themes or apps created by third-party developers. SHM tossed around terms like Afeela becoming the "center of the mobility experience."

Your correspondent has recently test-driven several electric vehicles and can report that designs similar to those SHM showed off in a 2023 video have made it into production in cars from other manufacturers. Sony and ...