UPDATED: Sony will exit the car audio market in Europe, it announced this fall.
The company will cease taking orders from retailers in Europe effective at the end of the year, and shipping will end with the close of March 2025.
A letter from Sony Europe to industry members on that continent said, “After careful consideration and analysis, we have decided to discontinue our car audio products in Europe, effective 31st March 2025.”
The letter continued, “This decision was not made lightly, and it comes as a result of our ongoing efforts to streamline our product portfolios in Europe and focus on areas that align more closely with our strategic goals and customer demands.”
The letter, sent at the end of September, said Sony was committed to making the transition as seamless as possible and said warranties will remain in place according to the laws of each region.
Sony eV Business & Product Manager Shun Goto said the decision does not impact the US market.
“This decision was made considering the declining demand in the EU. North American (US and Canada) car audio businesses and other regions worldwide will continue to operate normally without change,” said Goto.
As far as I’m concerned, you can close it in the USA also. Too many cheap brands and not enough dashes to fill.
“…for now” is what Goto is really saying to avoid mass exodus of Sony ES dealers in other regions, namely the US. Sony will move away from non profitable consumer goods and consolidate, they’re a profit generating juggernaut so decisions of which way to tip the bucket simply make sense. Automotive aftermarket firmly sits in those cross hairs as it’s a drop in the vast Sony ocean for them.When you make more money from PS5 game sales in a few days compared to a whole category over a year it’s a no brainer and an inevitability when automotive aftermarket is simply a category you’re in and not a major earner for your company. It’s nothing personal, “it’s a Sony”.
Government imposed energy regulation has slowly been killing the European car market so this does not surprise me one bit.
The question that needs to be asked is what does this mean for Sony in the U.S. market? Even though the automotive car audio aftermarket is declining in Europe, will it make sense for Sony to tool up its next product lineup for the U.S. market for 2026?
I am a SONY partner in the UK and sadly this is true. It is a huge loss to our already declining market in UK and Europe. The process certainly could of been handled better. They just cancelled all our orders and since being informed we have received no deliveries resulting in many unhappy customers.