The delivery points — each referred to as an Afeela Studio and Delivery Hub — will be in Torrance and Fremont, Calif., providing coverage to both the southern and northern regions of the state. They will open in the second half of the year.

Dealers are ‘disappointed’ Afeela 1 will be sold directly to consumers

While the idea of selling cars directly to consumers has been executed by EV startups such as Tesla, Rivian and Lucid, the concept of circumventing dealers to sell what could be perceived to be a Honda vehicle is a sticking point.

Following the JV’s announcement that it planned to use a direct-to-consumer sales model for the Afeela 1, National Automobile Dealers Association CEO Mike Stanton said in a statement that the group is “disappointed” with the decision and that such a direction would put the EV in direct competition with the Honda and Acura dealer network.

“Honda should understand that any misguided attempt to bypass or undercut its U.S. dealers will be challenged in statehouses and courthouses across the country — with NADA’s full support,” Stanton said.

Scout Motors, established by Volkswagen in 2022, recently announced its intention to sell its EVs directly to consumers , sparking criticism from VW dealers in California who claim doing so violates the state’s franchise laws.

NADA took the same position, stating that the franchise system “is best positioned to handle the many aspects of buying a car.”

Honda operating at full capacity in North America

Chris Zamora, chairman of the Honda National Dealer Advisory Board and executive manager of Zamora Automotive, which has 18 stores representing various brands in California, Texas and Arizona, told Automotive News that dealers are stunned that it’s happening, even though it was a bit expected.

“Since Honda’s announced its partnership with Sony, the biggest concern is the limited resources that Honda and Sony have to produce cars, possibly taking them away from the Honda brand and the retailers,” Zamora said, noting that the automaker is already at capacity.

Honda Motor Co. also has announced plans to merge with Nissan Motor Co., which has excess capacity, but there are still questions around how that deal will work out, Zamora said.

Noriya Kaihara, executive vice president of Honda Motor Co., said a benefit from a potential tie-up between the Japanese automakers could be using excess capacity at Nissan factories to produce vehicles for its own lineup that are in tight supply.

Bill Feinstein , president of Planet Honda in Tilton, N.H., and general manager of Planet Honda in Union, N.J., agrees that it’s a misallocation of resources.

“We believe that any models produced by Honda should be sold through the dealer network,” Feinstein said. He is also a member of Honda’s dealer advisory board.

“Honda Motor Co. is bigger than just American Honda, but we have had a long history of working together — the franchise dealers and Honda — and obviously we’re a bit perplexed and a bit perturbed by this development,” he said.

Honda said it’s a separate joint venture and that it has no control over the business decisions at Sony Honda Mobility, but that is just a “cover,” Feinstein said.

“The reality,” he said, “is that there are Honda resources and Honda employees working on this project.”

Afeela 1 will compete in a limited market

The Afeela 1 is a pricey sedan. It will come in two trims — the Origin and Signature — that both command a sizable price. The Afeela 1 Origin will start at $89,000; the Afeela 1 Signature will cost $102,900.

Purchase of the vehicle comes with a three-year subscription for certain functions and features. Deliveries of the more expensive Afeela Signature trim will start in the middle of 2026, with the Afeela 1 Origin arriving in 2027.

It will be equipped with 40 sensors — including lidar, cameras and radars — expansive interior screens and built-in AI.

But shoppers that can afford a $90,000 electric sedan will likely overlook these types of cutting-edge features, Jessica Caldwell, executive director of insights at Edmunds, told Automotive News.

These buyers, Caldwell said, will be attracted by the cachet of the Sony brand.

“They want something nobody else has, and the fact that it’s the new gadget on the block with a Sony name will have appeal, but that market is quite limited,” she said.

“Details like intelligent drive will be interesting to a tech person, but not everyone in that price category,” Caldwell said.

Driving range also is not all that impressive for a $90,000 EV. Sony Honda Mobility did not confirm the Afeela 1′s range but said it’s targeting 300 miles.

Lucid plays in the expensive sedan arena, and its most affordable option, the Air Pure, is $71,400 and offers 480 miles of range. The Grand Touring costs $112,400 gets up to 512 miles on a full charge. Both prices include shipping.

Afeela EVs will rely on partners

Sony Honda Mobility said it will not consider using third party lead generators to garner sales for Afeela 1 — it would keep that in-house.

But for items such as service, financing and trade-ins, Mizuno said it will look to partners with expertise in each field, though these solutions are still under investigation.

The company did announce it would use Crash Champions — a network of automotive collision repair centers with 650 locations in 38 states — for vehicle repair and maintenance.

For services such as tire repair, Minuzo said they are examining the possibilities of another partner.

Though Sony Honda Mobility is operating independent of Honda and wants the Afeela brand to stand on its own, it will consider using the automaker’s captive for financing.

“We are thinking of Honda Financial as one possible direction. However, we have not made a decision on that just yet,” Mizuno said.

As for trade-ins, Sony Honda Mobility is not interested in getting into the used-car game. “We don’t have any plans at this point to take the vehicles directly to auction; we will give it to a partner,” Mizuno said.

“The used-car market is a completely different business, and we’d rather have somebody who has knowledge and take care of that,” he said. “It also takes a lot of money to be involved in that type of business, so we’ll leave it up to experts.”