At the ongoing Paris Airshow, Japanese electric Vertical Takeoff And Landing (eVTOL) aircraft manufacturer SkyDrive has inked a basic agreement with Suzuki Motor Corporation for cooperation in manufacturing the company’s 3-seater eVTOL aircraft.
Tomohiro Fukuzawa, CEO, SkyDrive, said, 'At Suzuki, all manufacturing activities are based on a concept, 'Smaller, Fewer, Lighter, Shorter, and Neater,' and SkyDrive is developing lightweight air mobilities. Suzuki and SkyDrive have been collaborating since March 2022, and we are very excited that SkyDrive will utilise the production facility of Suzuki to build our eVTOL.'
Headquartered in Toyota, SkyDrive will establish a wholly-owned manufacturing subsidiary to make eVTOLs. It will utilise the production facility owned by the Suzuki Group in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan, and commence production by the spring of 2024.
Toshihiro Suzuki, President, Suzuki Motor Corporation, said, 'We are excited to cooperate with SkyDrive as we ambitiously work towards creating valuable products that contribute to the realisation of a world where people use the sky for their daily transportation.”
Established in July 2018, SkyDrive succeeded in Japan's first crewed flight test in 2019 and is acquiring its Japan Civil Aviation Bureau (JCAB) certification for its eVTOL.
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