Didier Papadopoulos, president of aircraft original equipment manufacturing for Joby, said in a conference call with industry analysts that Toyota is helping the company refine its nascent manufacturing work.
Joby has introduced ways of building aircraft sub-assemblies, or internal parts, in standalone work cells, then integrating and installing those sub-assemblies on airplanes.
“This approach has improved the efficiency of final integration by more than 30%,” Papadopoulos said. “And by the way, the fixtures for these new processes were designed and provided to us by our incredible partner at Toyota, just one of many examples of their invaluable support for our mission.”
He added Joby has worked “side by side” with Toyota in designing its manufacturing sites in Marina, Calif. “including the expansion that will double our manufacturing space at the airport (in California), and the facility we’re bringing online in Ohio.”
Matt Field, Joby’s chief financial officer, said discussions have started with Toyota on a “manufacturing strategic alliance” for commercial production. “We’ll have more to share on this in due course,” he said.
In a statement to the Dayton Daily News, a Joby spokesperson said: “Toyota’s expected $500 million further investment in Joby calls for the two companies to form a strategic manufacturing alliance that will support scaling of manufacturing for early commercialization. We have been working side-by-side with Toyota for seven years already and we look forward to continuing to learn from them as we deepen our partnership.”
Taking a question from an analyst, Paul Sciarra, Joby’s executive chairman, said it was hard to know if there would be any change to the budget of Agility Prime, the Air Force’s exploration of flying taxis, with the incoming second administration of President Donald Trump.
“Historically we have worked very well with folks on both sides of the aisle,” Sciarra said, adding, “as a matter of fact, you can take our work in Ohio as sort of demonstrative of that. We were able to kind of successfully navigate both” parties.
California’s Gov. Gavin Newsom is a Democrat; Gov. Mike DeWine in Ohio is a Republican.
Joby, which makes flying taxis, has made three prototype aircraft at its California manufacturing facility, with a fourth near completion. Since September 2023, has talked of establishing a manufacturing operation near Dayton International Airport.
The company expects flying service in Dubai, ferrying airline passengers from cities to airports, could start as early as 2025.
Production of components for Joby electric vertical takeoff and landing vehicles (eVTOL) will begin in Dayton early next year, Greg Bowles, Joby’s head of government relations and regulatory affairs, told the Dayton Daily News in August.
The Santa Cruz, Calif.-based company this week reported a net loss of $144 million during the third quarter while celebrating a balance sheet that boasts a total of about $1.4 billion in cash and investments.
Field called that the industry’s best balance sheet.
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