Another automaker has run afoul of the California New Car Dealers Association, which accuses it of illegally selling vehicles direct.

The high-end electric Afeela brand, a joint venture established between American Honda Motor and Sony Honda Mobility in 2022, is open to buyers in California for an estimated mid-2026 delivery time frame.

The CNCDA, which recently joined Florida auto dealers in suing Volkswagen affiliate Scout over direct sales, issued a cease-and-desist letter to the venture, demanding that it immediately stop direct-to-consumer sales and marketing.

The trade group took the same tack late last year with Scout, which ignored its demand, and CNCDA followed up with its lawsuit in April.

It similarly maintains that Afeela’s direct sales violate California’s franchise laws by bypassing Honda and Accura auto dealers, “cutting them out of a fair opportunity to sell or lease the vehicles” and competing with its own franchisees, the group said in a statement.

“California law is crystal clear. Automakers and their affiliates are not allowed to compete with their own franchised dealers through direct sales,” said CNCDA President Brian Maas. 

“Sony Honda’s rollout of selling Afeela vehicles directly to consumers is an unlawful effort to circumvent the state’s protections for franchisees, and we are fully prepared to take legal action to defend our Honda and Acura dealer members.”

CNCDA says Afeela’s makers are selling the vehicles directly with full awareness of California’s recently enacted law barring automakers from selling vehicles directly through affiliates. The law, which it said Afeela formally opposed, took effect last January.

An Afeela representative couldn't be immediately reached for comment on CNCDA's action.

The first Afeela sedan, the Afeela 1, will have a starting manufacturer’s suggested retail price of $89,900.

The vehicle’s makers have indicated they’ll assemble it at an Ohio Honda factory that also makes Hondas and Acuras.

Sony Honda Mobility opened an Afeela studio in the San Francisco Bay area in late March for a three-month run to give consumers an “immersive glimpse” of the vehicle.

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