Sion program discontinued

Sion program discontinued

The discontinuation of the Sion program reflects the company's decision to focus on a less capital-intensive business model given the poor conditions in the capital market - around 90% of the financing requirements for 2023 were caused by the Sion program. The company's portfolio of solar solutions also includes software and hardware such as power electronics. This is already being used by 23 business partners in Europe, Asia and the USA and is being tested in a wide range of vehicles, including cars from other OEMs, buses, refrigerated vehicles and motorhomes.

Despite the more than 45,000 reservations and pre-orders for the Sion, Sono Motors was forced to respond to the ongoing instability in financial markets and streamline its business. “This decision was not easy for us,” said Hahn. The company has a repayment plan for Sion reservations that were paid before the #savesion campaign. This provides for repayment in several installments plus a bonus over the next two years, starting with the first installment in May 2023. Sono Motors will not collect the amounts of all payment commitments made since December 8, 2022 as part of the #savesion campaign. As a result of the company's decision to discontinue the Sion program, Sono Motors plans to lay off approximately 300 employees.

Sono Motors currently works as a development partner and supplier with companies in ten markets in Europe, Asia and the USA, including Mitsubishi Europe, CHEREAU and the two Volkswagen subsidiaries Scania and MAN Truck & Bus. In the future, Sono Motors wants to focus specifically on buses and cars from other OEMs. The company will now further scale its technology and begin the rollout of the next generation of the “Solar Bus Kit” – a mass retrofit solution for greener public transport – planned for the second quarter of 2023. From now on, discussions with potential investors will focus exclusively on the solar business.