Suzuki Motor Corporation has signed a basic agreement with the Toyota City-headquartered SkyDrive Inc for cooperation for the manufacture of ‘flying cars’.
SkyDrive will establish a 100% owned subsidiary to manufacture flying cars. Suzuki and SkyDrive will utilise a plant owned by the Suzuki Group in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan and aim to start the manufacturing of flying cars around spring of 2024. Suzuki will also cooperate with SkyDrive’s manufacturing subsidiary in preparing for the start of manufacturing, including securing of human resources.
Commenting on the planned operation, President Toshihiro Suzuki said: “I'm very excited to be working together with SkyDrive. We will make ambitious strides toward the development of products of superior value, so that we can contribute to the realization of air mobility, which utilizes the sky for daily transportation.”
In September 2022, Suzuki had announced its investment in SkyDrive, a company led by Tomohiro Fukuzawa, CEO president and representative director, develops ‘flying cars’ and ‘cargo drones’. In March 2022, SkyDrive and Suzuki had formed a partnership to collaborate in areas of business and technology of flying cars, and have since been considering future collaboration and business development.
Suzuki will cooperate in development of technologies including weight reduction gained through the basic policy of ‘Sho, Sho, Kei, Tan, Bi (Smaller, Fewer, Lighter, Shorter, Neater)’ and electrification, mass-production technologies, and business development in markets including India.
In the recent years, the demand for personal transportation have increased due to easing congestion and streamlining overall traffic in the urban areas, as well as shift in requirements to ‘transport as needed’.