Toyota getting into air taxis with nearly $400M investment in growing space
Toyota invested nearly $400 million in a California company looking to build an air taxi as transportation companies grapple with the future of interurban mobility.
The $394 million Toyota Motor Corp. (NYSE: TM) investment made the automaker the lead investor in Joby Aviation's Series C funding round, Joby announced Wednesday.
Joby raised $590 million in this latest round of funding. Counting this latest round of funding, Joby has now raised a total of $720 million, the company said.
This investment by Toyota, which hosts its North American headquarters in Plano, represents another step the company is taking toward shedding the moniker of being known simply as an automaker.
The company wants to be known as a "mobility company" going forward, and is investing in areas outside its traditional core competencies, like the Joby air taxi.
"Air transportation has been a long-term goal for Toyota, and while we continue our work in the automobile business, this agreement sets our sights to the sky," said Akio Toyoda, Toyota president and CEO, in a prepared statement.
Santa Cruz, Calif.-based Joby Aviation's bid for the emerging air taxi market is a piloted, five-seat vehicle with eVTOL capabilities, which means it's electric and has vertical take-off and landing abilities similar to a helicopter.
Joby said the vehicle can reach speeds of 200 miles per hour and has over a 150-mile range on a single charge.
Although air taxis are still years away from a commercial reality, more and more manufacturers are throwing their hats in the ring for what they think will be a major way people get around urban environments as roads become increasingly congested.
Locally, Fort Worth-based Bell, part of Textron Inc. (NYSE: TXT), unveiled the latest version of its air taxi aircraft called the Nexus 4EX earlier this month at CES in Las Vegas. Also, a Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) subsidiary called Aurora Flight Sciences conducted the first flight of its air taxi last year.
This large investment from Toyota gives a company like Joby extra heft as it competes with much more established aerospace giants.
"This collaboration with Toyota represents an unprecedented commitment of money and resources for us and this new industry from one of the world's leading automakers," said JoeBen Bevirt, Joby CEO and founder, in a prepared statement. "I am excited to harness Toyota's engineering and manufacturing prowess helping to drive us to achieve our dream of saving a billion people an hour a day."
Original Post:
By Evan Hoopfer
https://www.bizjournals.com/dallas/news/2020/01/16/toyota-air-taxi.html