The Afeela 1 and Afeela SUV Prototype were both killed recently before ever reaching production due to Honda’s decision to massively pull back on its EV aspirations, but that doesn’t mean the Sony-Honda partnership is finished. On Saturday, Japan’s Nikkei reported that the two companies are looking for new ways to keep the joint venture alive.
The obvious one suggested in the report is a new focus on in-car technology. Specifically, the two would partner on creating a new artificial intelligence assistant and audio systems. Sony will aim to expand its entertainment experiences into Honda vehicles, where we could see “a portion of the onboard software and services from Sony-Honda Mobility” installed, Nikkei reports.
Afeela
What this means, practically speaking, would likely be that a derivative of the interface we saw previewed in the Afeela 1 could actually end up in Honda vehicles. That’s exciting. considering the digital experience offered by the Afeela was likely going to be one of its stronger selling points.
The Sony-Honda Mobility team currently consists of about 400 workers, and this new direction will see many of those absorbed in other parts of each company. It’s unclear if Sony will try to offer its newfound automotive services to companies other than Honda, but the thought doesn’t seem out of the question, now that the two are no longer building a car together.
Afeela
No matter where this partnership ultimately lands, we’re quite intrigued at the idea of Sony-built infotainment and software inside a Honda vehicle. Screens and infotainment technology is one of the few places where Honda lags behind some of its competitors today, and injecting a bit of know-how and expertise from Sony could shore up those weak points.
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A Michigan-born car nut and racing enthusiast, Zac Palmer is talking about or thinking about cars somewhere. He bought his first when he was still 15, a 2001 Acura Integra GS-R that still resides in the garage today. It’s now joined by a 2004 Porsche Boxster S, and there will be even less practical additions to follow. Palmer worked at both Autoweek and Autoblog before joining R&T.