Joby expands manufacturing footprint in $61.5M deal
Joby Aviation (JOBY) said on Wednesday that it has purchased a 700K square-foot manufacturing facility in Dayton, Ohio, supporting its efforts to double manufacturing of its electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) in 2027.
The company said in an SEC filing that it paid $61.5 million for the facility, which is ready for immediate use.
Joby said last month that it plans to double its production to four eVTOLs per month through an expanded partnership with Toyota Motor Corporation (TM).The company noted at the time that it is working with Toyota "to finalize a strategic manufacturing alliance that will support the ramp-up of production."
The is Joby's second manufacturing facility in Dayton. It also has another one in Marina, California.
The company said in July that it had expanded the production capacity at its Marina manufacturing site across 435,500 square feet of total space. Once it’s fully operational, the site is expected to be able to produce up to 24 aircraft per year.
Joby noted in its press release on Wednesday that it is currently hiring for its Marina facility to support 24-hour manufacturing operations there.
The company said that its newest facility in Dayton has enough room to provide "significant future growth."
“This site will not only support our near-term plan to double production, it can also serve as a base for significant future growth, as we turn a decade of engineering into the manufacturing scale the market is now demanding,” Joby founder and CEO JoeBen Bevirt said in a statement.
Bevirt credited the "unmatched governmental and policy support" in Ohio for helping to ensure "that the commercial and defense aircraft that define the future of flight are built right here in America.”
Joby also noted the "significant policy momentum for advanced air mobility" happening in Washington. This includes the Trump administration's Electric Vertical Takeoff and Landing Integration Pilot Program (eIPP), which is planning for at least five pilot projects to run for three years after the first project becomes operational.
Both Joby and rival Archer Aviation (ARCHER) have applied to join the program.
On Tuesday, Joby announced that it had accepted the first two flight simulators developed in partnership with CAE (CAE), which is a global leader in pilot training.
These simulators "provide the ultra-realistic environment required for commercial single-pilot eVTOL operations and are equipped with the same simulation technology used to train pilots for the world’s leading airlines," the company said.
Joby said that the simulators are scheduled to be "qualified amongst the highest Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) classifications for flight simulation."
“These simulators are central to the FAA certification process and are being delivered on time to support pilot training ahead of Joby’s first commercial flights planned for this year,” Bonny Simi, president of operations for Joby, said in a statement.
Joby's stock fell 4.6% on Wednesday.
The company is expected to launch air taxi services in Dubai sometime this year. It is also set to launch a pilot program offering commuter flights from Manhattan to Westchester County in New York through its recently acquired subsidiary Blade Air Mobility (BLDE).