by DRONELIFE Staff Writer Ian M. Crosby
During the 2023 Paris Air Show, Archer Aviation Inc. and Stellantis announced progress in their strategic manufacturing partnership. Construction is currently ongoing on the world’s first high-volume eVTOL aircraft manufacturing facility located on a roughly 100-acre Covington, Georgia-based campus. Recently, Stellantis raised its strategic shareholding by way of a series of purchases of Archer stock in the open market.
“The Stellantis and Archer teams are moving full speed ahead in execution mode to ensure we meet our goal of bringing scalable manufacturing of Archer’s aircraft online in mid-2024,” said Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares. “We believe this unique partnership is setting the standard for cross-industry collaboration and continues to be a key pillar of our strategy to ensure Stellantis leads the way the world moves, providing freedom of mobility in all ways. With our trusted teams onsite working shoulder-to-shoulder with Archer, I have no doubt that we are on the right path.”
“At Archer, our goal is not just to get to commercialization, but to achieve it at scale. High-volume manufacturing is critical to ensuring we can meet this goal and joining forces with one of the leading mobility companies in the world is helping us realize the once-in-a-generation opportunity we have to redefine urban transportation,” said Archer founder and CEO Adam Goldstein. “I couldn’t be prouder of what we’ve already accomplished with this partnership as we continue to lead the industry in building out manufacturing capabilities.”
The goal of this manufacturing ramp-up phase is to take advantage of the expertise of both companies to allow for the rapid scaling of aircraft production in line with Archer’s commercialization plans. Stellantis personnel are collaborating closely with the Archer team, and are involved in nearly all levels of Archer’s operations, including manufacturing, engineering, supply chain, quality, facilities and human resources.
The earliest manufacturing operations will be able to produce up to 650 aircraft per year, with potential for expansion to support production of up to 2,300 aircraft per year. This scale of manufacturing would result in this site becoming the world’s leading aircraft manufacturing facility by volume.
Read more:
- FAA Acting Administrator Billy Nolen to Join eVTOL Aircraft Manufacturer Archer Aviation
- Archer Aviation and United Airways Establish Air Taxi Route in Chicago [VIDEO]
- Stellantis to Manufacture Archer eVTOL, Provide Strategic Funding
- Archer Aviation Reveals Passenger eVTOL, Midnight
Ian attended Dominican University of California, where he received a BA in English in 2019. With a lifelong passion for writing and storytelling and a keen interest in technology, he is now contributing to DroneLife as a staff writer.
Miriam McNabb is the Editor-in-Chief of DRONELIFE and CEO of JobForDrones, a professional drone services marketplace, and a fascinated observer of the emerging drone industry and the regulatory environment for drones. Miriam has penned over 3,000 articles focused on the commercial drone space and is an international speaker and recognized figure in the industry. Miriam has a degree from the University of Chicago and over 20 years of experience in high tech sales and marketing for new technologies.
For drone industry consulting or writing, Email Miriam.
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