JAKARTA - Suzuki announced on Tuesday, March 22, that it has joined forces with the flying car company SkyDrive to collaborate on research, development and marketing of flying cars.
The flying car in Suzuki's collaboration with SkyDrive will have vertical take-off and landing technology, as well as using electric power.
For Suzuki, the partnership will add 'flying cars' as a fourth mobility business, in addition to cars, motorcycles and outboard motors, the joint statement said.
SkyDrive, the company that is also developing cargo drones, aims to launch a 'flying car' service in Osaka by 2025 when the Japanese city hosts the World Expo.
In a joint statement, the two companies said they would work to open new markets with an initial focus on India, where Suzuki has about half the auto market share.
Suzuki plans to invest 104.4 billion rupees (Rp 19 trillion) in its India factory to produce electric vehicles and batteries.
SkyDrive has successfully carried out a test flight of a flying car with a test pilot in 2020. In a video, the SkyDrive car hovers in the air with the passengers in it for four minutes.
SkyDrive CEO Tomohiro Fukuzawa says there are more than 100 flying car projects in the world, and only a handful have been successful with one person on board.
“I hope that many people will want to ride it and feel safe,” said Tomohiro.
Suzuki and SkyDrive will face stiff competition from a number of big names, who want to create a new form of urban transportation.
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