Volkswagen Makes Push For Flying Cars To Be Launched In China

The German Automobile Manufacturer Has Announced The Go-Ahead For A Feasibility Study About Flying Cars To Be Launched In China, The Company's Most Profitable Market.

Volkswagen VLKAF VWAGY is working on pushing into one of the future's most promising markets — that of flying vehicles. As a matter of fact, the company has announced the onset of a feasibility study, aimed at creating authentic flying cars. “Beyond autonomous driving, the concept of vertical mobility could be the next step to take our mobility approach into the future, especially in the technically affine Chinese market,” Volkswagen CEO Stephan Wöllenstein explained during a LinkedIn Live broadcast, later reported by Reuters. “Therefore, we are investigating potential concepts and partners in a feasibility study to identify the possibility to industrialize this approach”, he added. The intention, as underlined by Wöllenstein, is to develop a drone capable of carving out a share in an automotive market that is taking place up in the air and not down on the streets.

Volkswagen And The Chinese Market: The German company's feasibility study is being carried out in China — the largest car market in the world — which accounts for the majority of Volkswagen's sales. “To approach the future, we are evaluating Chinese market technical possibilities, with the aim of starting the production of new vehicles,” explained Wöllenstein.

Wöllenstein's Experience With Flying Cars: Wöllenstein also recalled his experience aboard a flying vehicle. “One of our partner companies in this project allowed me to fly at a 100-meters height, guiding me with remote control”, he said. "You don't have a controller to steer. You have to trust the people who drive for you, hoping they don't mess up," concluded the CEO, amused by the experience.

Competition Is Already On: Volkswagen's announcement comes at a time of turmoil for the flying car industry, since other multinational corporations - General Motors Company GM, Hyundai Motors Company HYMTF, Airbus EADSF, as well as some American companies, such as Joby Aviation, and the German firms Lilium and Volocopter, whose investors include Daimler AG DDAIF and Intel Corporation INTC, are bustling to win the first place in the race for the skies. The competition has been also joined by Fiat Chrysler Automobiles FCAU, for which Airspeeder is developing a vertical take-off vehicle, while KeinVision is designing a road-to-sky car capable of taking off simply by pushing a button. In short, the game of flying cars has just begun.

This article originally appeared on Financialounge.com and was translated from Italian to English. It does not represent the opinion of Benzinga and has not been edited. For news coverage in Italian or Spanish, check out Benzinga Italia and Benzinga España.