Why Big Automakers Keep Failing at New Car Brands
Source: NYT > Business (paywall)
Honda and Sony's abandonment of Afeela—before delivering a single vehicle—exposes a structural problem: legacy automakers struggle to operate independent brands at the speed and cost discipline EVs demand. The issue isn't product vision but organizational drag. Parent companies impose cost controls, supply chain integration, and bureaucratic decision-making that make new brands uncompetitive against purpose-built EV makers like Tesla or BYD, which operate with unified incentives and faster iteration cycles.