Honda cancels the two electric vehicles it was developing with Sony

Earlier this month Honda decided to cancel a trio of electric vehicles it was planning to build in the US. And those cancellations are having a ripple effect. Today Sony Honda Mobility—the automaker’s joint venture with the electronics and entertainment company—announced that it won’t bring its EVs to market either.

Although Honda was an early adopter of hybrid technology, it has been left badly lagging when it comes to developing battery-electric cars. The diminutive Honda e might look like the most adorable city car you’ve ever seen, but it struggled to find more than 12,000 buyers in four years across Europe and Japan.

Here in North America, the Prologue has done much better: Honda sold 33,000 in 2024, and another 39,000 last year. But the rebadged GM, which shares a platform with the Chevrolet Blazer, has seen sales implode since the end of the federal clean vehicle tax credit last fall, and it, too, leaves production at the end of the year. An earlier plan to use GM’s battery platform for lower-cost EVs, meant to arrive in 2027, died in late 2023.

Honestly, it has been a surprise that all of those shoes dropped before the Sony Honda Mobility announcement.