TOYOTA Motor is boosting its investment in air taxi manufacturer Joby Aviation by US$500 million to support plans for commercial production, bringing its total investment in the company to US$894 million.
The Japanese automaker said on Wednesday (Oct 2) it will make the additional funds available to Santa Cruz, California-based Joby in two tranches, with the first coming later this year and the remainder in 2025.
“With this additional investment, we are excited to see Joby certify their aircraft and shift to commercial production,” Tetsuo Ogawa, head of Toyota’s US operations, said in a statement.
Joby’s shares pared an early gain of as much as 21 per cent to trade up 13 per cent as of 9.53 am in New York. The stock had declined about 28 per cent this year through Tuesday’s close.
The company is one of several eVTOL (electric vertical take-off and landing) companies that plan to fly customers on short commuter journeys via battery-powered air taxis. Joby said recently it aims to start commercial services in Dubai from late next year.
Certification by the US Federal Aviation Administration and regulators in other countries is still pending. The company had previously targeted the start of service operations as soon as this year.
Toyota began financing Joby in 2020, two years after its venture capital arm participated in a funding round.
JoeBen Bevirt, Joby’s chief executive officer, told analysts earlier this year that his company’s engineers are working “side-by-side with the Toyota team on a daily basis” as it prepares to begin commercial aircraft production. BLOOMBERG
