Hyundai Motor Group air taxi unit plans US manufacturing facility

Hyundai Mobis

08/11/2023 07:50

SEOUL, Nov 8 (Reuters) - Hyundai Motor Group's air taxi
unit Supernal plans to build a manufacturing facility in the
United States to make flying electric taxis for commuters, the
South Korean auto group said on Wednesday. 
    A prototype of the electric vertical take-off and landing
(eVTOL) craft will be shown at global tech show Consumer
Electronics Show (CES) in January in Las Vegas, Supernal Chief
Executive Officer Shin Jaiwon said in an interview with
Bloomberg. 
    Electric air taxi-makers worldwide have pitched themselves
as clean alternatives to decongest cities, attracting investment
from airline heavyweights such as Delta Air Lines Inc  DAL.N 
though they are still a long way away from commercial
operations. 
    Shin said the eVTOL taxi would be capable of flying at 120
mph (193 kph) and have capacity for a pilot and four passengers,
targeting December 2024 for a test flight.
    Hyundai Motor, Kia Corp  000270.KS  and Hyundai Mobis
 012330.KS , have together invested 1.2 trillion won ($915.70
million) in Washington-based Supernal since its establishment in
2021, according to regulatory filings. 
    Last month, Hyundai Motor Group signed an agreement with
Korean Air Lines  003490.KS  to work together to accelerate the
design of electric eVTOL vehicles and air mobility ecosystem in
South Korea.
($1 = 1,310.4700 won)

 (Reporting by Heekyong Yang; editing by Robert Birsel)
 ((Heekyong.Yang@thomsonreuters.com;))