Posted on Friday 2 May 2008
Toyota announced this week that it would invest up to ¥10 billion ($96 million) to help fund development of Japan’s first ever commercial passenger jet. The new project is being set-up by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, and along with Toyota is being funded by Japanese firms Mitsui and Sumitomo as well as the government-controlled Development Bank of Japan.
The aim of project is to build and market Japan’s first ever commercial passenger jet, which is expected to seat between 70 and 90 people and go on sale in 2013. The new plane is expected to compete with other small passenger planes from the likes of Canada’s Bombardier and Brazil’s Embraer and already it has 25 firm orders from All Nippon Airways, reports The Nikkei.
Toyota said its motivation for the project was primarily patriotic but it also gives the carmaker a chance to expand its operations into different segments. It also removes the edge Toyota’s main rival, Honda, has with its own line of HondaJet private aircraft.
A spokeswoman for Toyota said the carmaker already has a small aerospace research team as well as a robotics unit and is always looking at areas where it can diversify.
Thank You for the information!
It will be interesting to see if it’s going to be sucsessfull. Bombardier and Embraer are serious players in regional jet game. Boeing tried with B717 and failed. Airbus made A318 and has very limited market share.
Anyway, competition is always welcome. Although $96 million is really not very much in aviation business.
Sorry! I forgot to add a comment. I was going to say: The beginning of the end of a golden era for US
Have a great weekend
Adalberto
adalberto; I think you need to understand that aviation isnt quite like the car market. as raptor has stated, Bombadier and embraer are two excellent companies, and although you’ve never heard of them, they’ve effectively shut down airbus and boeing from the smaller jet industry. Not to say that airbus and boeing are that powerful of companies, because small jets and big jets are like compact cars and trucks. just because you can make one doesnt mean you could make the other. bombardier has got a really strong hold on the industry right now, and even if toyota itself were to make an airliner, they’d have some really tough competition.
A company such as Mitsu heavy getting into a new industry with already strong players like this generally means that those existing players will step up and make their next product so much stronger out of the fear of having some up start dethrone them.
Absoluteyly right Chris although Honda’s new plane is a fantastice piece of kit.
What Chris said.
It seems to me that Toyota has a “Honda” envy complex. CVCC engine , First U.S.A. auto assembly plant in Ohio, beat Ford Taurus in 1989 with the Accord to be first Japanese car best sellerin U.S.A for 3 years, First to offer Acura, NSX, V-tec, Hybrid, Natural gas powered Civic and complimentry home supply unit, Hydrogen FCX, ASIMO, and now HondaJet.
Bombardier got the jump on the 50 seat market, (now said to no longer be economically viable) but it looks like Embraer has the jump on the market this Toyo-mitsu is aiming at. Air Canada still flies the CRJs, but has seemingly bought a bunch of EMB 190s.
just another way to turn a profit….Toyota as a car company cannot get bigger unless it buys other companies, and that is too expensive.
although as mentioned the $96mil that they are fronting is peanuts compared to what will be required for R&D into makign a real fist of the aeronautical industry