Stellantis, one of the world’s leading automotive manufacturers, has invested a further $55 million in
Archer Aviation Inc, a developer of electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft. This additional investment from Stellantis under the companies’ strategic funding agreement, follows June’s successful transition flight test milestone.
This latest investment builds on Stellantis’s series of open market purchases of 8.3 million shares of Archer’s stock in March. During 2023, Stellantis invested $110 million in Archer through a combination of open market stock purchases and investments.
Archer says it remains on track to complete construction of the company’s high-volume manufacturing facility in Georgia later this year. This first phase of the build out is a 350,000ft2 facility on a 100-acre site designed to support production of up to 650 aircraft annually, making it one of the largest manufacturing facilities by volume in the aircraft industry. Archer’s goal with this facility remains to establish a factory that can support its planned commercial ramp up by leveraging the expertise of Stellantis as its contract manufacturer.
Stellantis’s CEO Carlos Tavares said: “Few things rival the excitement of seeing a dream take flight. I applaud the innovation, expertise and hard work of the engineering and manufacturing teams from Stellantis and Archer. With this additional investment in Archer, we remain on course for a future where freedom of mobility extends beyond today’s roads.”
Stellantis has been a strategic partner to Archer since 2020 through various collaboration initiatives, and as an investor since 2021. During this time, Archer has leveraged Stellantis’s manufacturing, supply chain, and design expertise in the design, development and commercialisation of its eVTOL aircraft. Archer says its goal is to transform urban travel, replacing 60-90min commutes by car with estimated 10-20min electric air taxi flights.