Germany-based Sono Motors has announced a shift in its business model from producing its own passenger car, the Sion, to retrofitting and integrating its solar technology onto third-party vehicles. The move is an attempt to focus on a capital-light business model amidst challenging capital market conditions.
While the Sion program generated an estimated 90% of funding needs for 2023, it was also resource-intensive, requiring significant personnel and funding, leading to a redundancy of approximately 300 employees. Sono Motors plans to sell the Sion program and intends to focus solely on solar solutions.
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The company’s solar technology, including hardware and software, is already in use, with 23 B2B customers across Europe, Asia, and the US piloting Sono Motors’ integrated solar technology on various vehicles.
Going forward, the company will concentrate on buses and third-party OEM cars, with the introduction of the ‘Solar Bus Kit’ planned for Q2 2023. Sono Motors’ solar technology has been designed to be seamlessly integrated into a range of vehicle architectures, reducing fuel costs, and the impact of CO2 emissions, paving the way for eco-friendly mobility.
According to Laurin Hahn, Sono Motors’ co-founder and CEO, “This pivot marks a significant step in Sono Motors’ business development. Even though we had to terminate our original passion project, the Sion program, shifting our entire focus to business-to-business solar solutions provides us with an opportunity to continue to create innovative products in the solar space.” Hahn acknowledges the difficulty of the decision to terminate the Sion program despite the 45,000 reservations and pre-orders, but says the company was compelled to react to ongoing financial market instability and streamline its business. The company’s talks with potential investors will now focus exclusively on solar technology.
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Sono Motors’ move is a testament to the shifting trends in the automotive industry, as companies increasingly prioritize eco-friendly solutions and seek to reduce costs amidst challenging market conditions. With its focus on retrofitting and integrating solar technology, Sono Motors is positioning itself as a leader in the development of eco-friendly mobility solutions for the future.
