Report: Sony-Honda venture plans SUV, Civic-sized affordable EV

Sony Honda Mobility is planning an electric SUV and affordable compact car in addition to its previously-shown sedan, according to a new Nikkei Asia report.

The SUV will launch in 2027, followed by the compact car in 2028, the report said. Sony and Honda announced in 2022 that the sedan will be unveiled in 2025 under the Afeela brand name, with pre-orders starting then. U.S. deliveries are scheduled to start in 2026, and Nikkei Asia now reports a targeted base price equivalent to $66,400.

The SUV and compact will also reportedly be sold in the U.S., with all three models using the same platform to reduce costs and quicken development. The compact—which should be close in size to the current Honda Civic—will also share parts with a new generation of independently developed Honda EVs, according to the report, the first of which are also scheduled to arrive in 2026.

As Honda CEO Toshihiro Mibe explained to Green Car Reports and other outlets at CES, Honda’s next-generation EVs will share some components with Afeela, but not all will be the same. Afeela will include aspects that will “enhance the value of the vehicle,” and “wow the world,” he noted.

Honda executives also said at the time that it was having trouble making an affordable compact EV pencil out without a “breakthrough” in battery tech—although perhaps the automaker believes adding the Sony EV would help achieve profitability through economy of scale.

The report does not say where the two future models will be assembled, but the initial Afeela sedan will be built in Ohio at an existing Honda plant. Honda in 2022 announced a $700 million investment to revamp several Ohio facilities into a hub for EV production—with a nearby Honda-LG joint battery plant.

Afeela showed an updated version of the sedan at CES in January, emphasizing that there would be a “digital platform for co-creation” for third-party apps and services—and, likely, plenty of additional revenue for Sony.