Terrafugia acquired by Chinese firm

Zhejiang Geely Holding Group (Hangzhou, China) announced on November 13 that it has entered into an agreement to acquire Terrafugia Inc. (Boston, MA, US), known for its Terrafugia flying car. The acquisition includes Terrafugia’s engineering and production of flying cars, future technologies, and  operations and assets in their entirety.

Terrafugia was founded in 2006 by five award-winning graduates of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT, Cambridge, MA, US). Since its inception, the company has made considerable progress towards realizing its vision of bringing a new form of mobility to the world, and delivered a number of working prototypes. Terrafugia aims to deliver its first flying car to the market in 2019, with the world’s first VTOL (vertical take-off and landing) flying car by 2023.

Under the terms of the agreement, Terrafugia will remain domiciled and headquartered in the US, and will continue to focus on its existing mission of developing flying cars. Terrafugia will also benefit from the Geely Holding’s significant expertise and track record of innovation within the global auto industry. The deal has received approval from all relevant regulators including the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CIFIUS). Chris Jaran, former managing director for Bell Helicopter China has been announced as a board member and chief executive officer effective immediately. Terrafugia founder Carl Dietrich will serve on the board of Directors and transition to the newly created role of chief technology officer (CTO) and continue to work on the market actualization of flying car technology. In anticipation of this transaction, Terrafugia’s team of engineers in the US has already tripled over the past quarter with Geely Holding’s support with Geely Holding being fully committed to further investing in the business, and creating additional jobs, following the completion of the acquisition.