SkyDrive introduces production subsidiary in Suzuki’s plant in Iwata City to make up to 100 eVTOLs per year

SkyDrive, a leading Japanese eVTOL aircraft manufacturer based in Japan, is pleased to announce the continual progress between the Suzuki Motor Corporation (“Suzuki”) and SkyDrive strategic partnership since the collaboration agreement on the sharing of business and technology in March 2022. This was successfully followed by the basic agreement on manufacturing in June 2023.

The SkyDrive Manufacturing Plant

SkyDrive established a Production Subsidiary on September 1, 2023, for the production of its "SKYDRIVE (also known as the SD-05)”. The plant, owned by Suzuki, will be used to produce up to 100 potential eVTOLs per year and is slated to begin in the Spring of 2024.

Business Development in India

SkyDrive and Suzuki have been collaborating in areas of business and technology R&D, planning of manufacturing and mass production systems, and development of overseas markets with an initial focus on India as well.

Concerning its market development in India, SkyDrive is developing suitability use cases in India in areas where tourists visit historical buildings along rivers or by the sea. These routes are travelled by Indian religious pilgrims crossing mountains and rivers.

To address serious social mobility and health issues, such as air pollution caused by excessive CO2 and daily urban congestion emissions, SkyDrive continues to discuss with local stakeholders how to contribute to the mobility revolution. This ties in with the decade-long achievements made by Suzuki in India and works to deliver on the potential of our UAM eVTOL future.