Sion: The end of a dream

Two students, Laurin Hahn and Jona Christians, wanted to make this dream come true. The name of their start-up: Sono Motors. The vehicle: Sion, the electric car with the solar panels on the sheet metal. The project got off to a flying start in 2016, and Navina Pernsteiner was also on board in the meantime.

The company grew and grew – from six employees (2017) to 36 (2018) and most recently 300 (2022). And these 300 people are now being laid off because the dream is over and the project has failed. Despite 45,000 pre-orders and participation from investors, who flushed a total of 330 million euros into the coffers, the Bavarians did not get the project across the finish line. The unstable financial markets are to blame, according to Sono Motors in a broadcast.

“We underestimated how difficult it is to raise the necessary funds.” The Sion project is now being offered for sale, and all down payments are to be repaid in installments over the next two years. Sono Motors is now concentrating on the solar business.