{"id":18210,"date":"2022-03-22T12:03:41","date_gmt":"2022-03-22T16:03:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/autosector.com\/?p=18210"},"modified":"2022-03-22T12:03:41","modified_gmt":"2022-03-22T16:03:41","slug":"suzuki-skydrive-flying-car-partnership","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/?p=18210","title":{"rendered":"Japan’s Suzuki, SkyDrive sign deal to develop, market ‘flying cars’"},"content":{"rendered":"

TOKYO \u2014 Japanese automaker Suzuki<\/a> Motor Corp and ‘flying car’ firm SkyDrive Inc said on Tuesday they have signed a deal to team up in research, development and marketing of electric, vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL<\/a>) aircraft.<\/p>\n

In a joint statement, the two companies said they will also work to open up new markets with an initial focus on India, where Suzuki has a roughly half share of the auto market. Suzuki announced on Sunday it plans to invest 104.4 billion rupees ($1.37 billion) in its India factory to produce electric vehicles<\/a> and batteries<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The companies didn’t disclose details of investments in their partnership, nor outline any production timetable or target.<\/p>\n

Founded in 2018, Tokyo-headquartered SkyDrive counts big Japan<\/a> businesses like trading house Itochu Corp, tech firm NEC Corp and a unit of energy company Eneos Holdings Inc among its main shareholders. In 2020 it raised 5.1 billion yen ($42 million) in total in Series B funds, according to its website.<\/p>\n

SkyDrive is currently engaged in the development of a compact, two-seating electric-powered flying car with plans for full-scale production. The statement did not say whether Suzuki would be working on this specific vehicle.<\/p>\n

The company, which is also developing cargo drones, aims to launch a ‘flying car’ service in Osaka in 2025 when the Japanese city hosts the World Expo.<\/p>\n

For Suzuki, the partnership will add ‘flying cars’ as a fourth mobility business, in addition to automobiles, motorcycles<\/a> and outboard motors, the statement said.<\/p>\n

($1<\/a> = 120.4500 yen)<\/p>\n

(Reporting by Satoshi Sugiyama; Editing by Kenneth Maxwell)<\/em><\/p>\n

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