Source | Archer Aviation Inc.

Stellantis N.V. (Amsterdam, Netherlands) and Archer Aviation Inc. (Santa Clara, Calif., U.S.) announced that Stellantis recently completed a series of open market purchases of approximately 8.3 million shares of Archer’s stock, signaling Stellantis’ continued confidence in Archer’s plans to bring electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft to market beginning in 2025 (read “Stellantis, Archer move partnership to “execution phase”). Stellantis’ increased investment in Archer follows CEO Carlos Tavares’ recent visit to Archer’s headquarters and manufacturing facilities in Santa Clara, California.

In January 2023, Stellantis announced that its goal was for it to mass produce Archer’s Midnight aircraft as its exclusive contract manufacturer, thereby enabling Archer to strengthen its path to commercialization by helping it avoid hundreds of millions of dollars of spending. The construction on the first phase of Archer’s high-volume manufacturing facility in Georgia remains on track, to be completed later this year. The first phase is a build out of approximately 350,000 square feet on a ~100 acre site designed to support production of up to 650 aircraft annually, which would make it one of the largest manufacturing facilities by volume in the aircraft industry.

Archer’s Midnight aircraft is designed to be safe, sustainable, quiet and carry four passengers plus a pilot. Midnight is optimized for back-to-back short distance trips of around 20-50 miles, with a charging time of approximately 10 minutes in between. CW has closely followed the development of the composites-intensive aircraft, read here.

“Archer has established itself as a market leader in the electrification of aviation and we believe that together we can usher in the next transportation revolution,” says Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares. “This recent move by Stellantis signals our confidence in Archer’s team and the progress we see firsthand through our deep partnership.”

Stellantis has been a strategic partner to Archer since 2020 through various collaboration initiatives, and as an investor since 2021. During this time, Archer has leveraged Stellantis’ deep manufacturing, supply chain, and design expertise in connection with Archer’s efforts to design, develop and commercialize its eVTOL aircraft.