(CU)_Volkswagen is looking into flying vehicles in China, joining the growing number of companies which are exploring the potential technology.
The German automaker noted that the concept on “vertical mobility” in the technically affine Chinese market could be the next step in taking the company’s mobility approach “into the future”. “Therefore, we are investigating potential concepts and partners in a feasibility study to identify the possibility to industrialize this approach,” the company said in a statement.
According to the CEO of Volkswagen Group China, Stephan Wöllenstein, the carmaker intends to develop a drone that could be licensed, thereby paving the way to participate in this futuristic market.
China is the world’s largest automobile market, and also accounts for the largest part of Volkswagen’s sales. The news comes amidst the German carmaker’s big push towards electric cars in the recent past, with the company delivering more than three times the volume of battery electric vehicles last year than it did in 2019.
Volkswagen joins a growing list of companies exploring the potential of flying vehicles, hoping to participate in a market which could be worth $1.5 trillion by 2040, according to Morgan Stanley.
Last month, at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Hyundai and Uber unveiled plans for an electric flying taxi, while world renowned carmakers such as Toyota, Porsche and Daimler have also backed start-ups in the electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) industry.
