Geely, which owns a stake in national carmaker Proton, said it had received the necessary approval for the deal, including from the US government’s Committee on Foreign Investment, to take over all of Terrafugia’s operations and assets.
However, the company did not disclose any financial details concerning the deal, The China Daily newspaper reported today.
It quoted John Zeng, managing director of LMC Automotive Shanghai, as saying that the investment did not come as a surprise.
“Many carmakers, faced with challenges brought about by electric cars and autonomous driving, are making investments in frontier technologies, as the future is becoming more uncertain,” he said.
Geely, whose headquarters are in Hangzhou, China, bought a 49.9% stake in Proton Holdings Bhd on May 24, together with another 51% stake in Lotus Cars from DRB-Hicom Bhd.
DRB-Hicom, a Malaysian government-linked company, still has a majority 50.1% share in Proton.
In August, Proton announced that the Geely Boyue special utility vehicle (SUV) would be adopted as the company’s next car model.
It said it was targeting 280,000 units of the model, to be assembled at the Proton plant in Tanjung Malim, for the Southeast Asian market.
Meanwhile, US tech news portal The Verge said Terrafugia would benefit from Geely’s financial strength, adding that the Chinese firm had also helped transform Volvo Cars.
Geely bought the Swedish passenger carmaker in 2010, and the owner of UK taxi producer The London Taxi Company in 2012.
According to The Verge, Terrafugia’s flying car model, named Transition, a road-ready prop plane with retractable wings, received approval from the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in 2012, essentially making it street-legal there.
It said Terrafugia, which was formed by five graduates of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2006, had managed to sell a few units of Transition at US$279,000 (RM1.17 million) each.
The company’s other prototype model, named TF-X, features retractable wings that allow the aircraft to take off and land vertically like a helicopter, The Verge said in a report.
“This type of VTOL (vertical take-off and landing) technology is seen as fundamental to the creation of an aerial taxi service, as envisioned by Uber and others,” it said.
“The aircraft would be electric powered, avoiding all the noise and pollution typically associated with helicopters.”
Zhejiang Geely says tie-up with Proton part of Obor initiative
New chief wants to make Proton number one in Malaysia, Asean