Volkswagen, the world's second largest car maker and Europe's largest, plans to study the feasibility of developing and building its first flying cars in China.
Stephan Wöllenstein, CEO of Volkswagen Group China, told Herbert Diess, chairman of the Board of Management of Volkswagen AG, his group plans to develop a flying car or a drone aerial vehicle.
He said this flying car will allow VW to participate in the future market for individual mobility "that's taking place up in the air and not down on the streets."
Wöllenstein said "vertical mobility" could be the next step after self-driving technology for VW.
"Therefore, we are investigating potential concepts and partners in a feasibility study (in China) to identify the possibility to industrialize this approach," he noted.
VW Group China later said that beyond autonomous driving, the concept of vertical mobility could be a next step to take VW's "mobility approach into the future, especially in the technically affine Chinese market."
The group said they're investigating potential concepts and partners in a feasibility study to identify the possibility to industrialize this approach to building the first VW flying car.
China is the world's largest motor vehicle market and is also Volkswagen's single biggest market, so launching a flying car in China makes sound business sense. VW Group China, however, revealed no details about its flying car.
Nor did it specify which of its car marques will grace the flying car. VW owns the VW, Audi, Porsche, Skoda and Seat car brands. It also owns Scania and MAN heavy trucks.
In October 2019, however, Porsche Automobil Holding SE and The Boeing Company entered into an agreement to "create an international team to address various aspects of urban air mobility, including analysis of the market potential for premium vehicles and possible use cases."
Porsche said the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) it signed with Boeing provides for establishing an international team to look into the air mobility solution.
This team will develop an electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft for rich customers to fly over traffic-choked cities like Los Angeles and New York.
Porsche and Boeing will collaborate to build and test a prototype eVTOL based on their own design. They will also venture into urban air mobility apart from developing their own eVTOL.
Volkswagen joins a growing list of companies exploring the potential of flying cars. South Korea's Hyundai Motor Company unveiled plans for an electric flying taxi at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last month.
