China’s EHang, an autonomous aerial vehicle (AAV) technology platform company, announced it has formed a strategic partnership with Charoen Pokphand Group (C.P. Group), to lay the groundwork for a joint venture in Thailand for AAV sales and urban air mobility (UAM) operations.
The two parties intend to leverage their resources in a long-term comprehensive collaboration on AAV product sales and marketing, regulatory compliance, business development, infrastructure deployment, and talent cultivation for future UAM operations.
C.P. Group is comprised of eight business lines and 14 business groups, covering various sectors of agriculture-industry and food, retail and distribution, media and telecommunications, e-commerce and digital, property development, automotive and industrial products, pharmaceuticals, etc. The partnership opens up cross-sector cooperation opportunities for C.P. Group and EHang and sets up a solid foundation for potential use cases for EHang AAVs in various scenarios such as in aerial sightseeing, cargo transportation, last-mile delivery, city air taxi, smart city management, etc., in Thailand and beyond, the companies said.
“By joining hands with EHang, a global pioneer in the autonomous eVTOL industry, we’ve made a step further toward our commitment to driving our businesses, society, and the environment closer to sustainability and exploring a new zero-carbon air mobility mode for the community,” said Thanakorn Seriburi, senior vice chairman of C.P. Group. “Through leveraging EHang’s unique AAV technologies and efficient and eco-friendly UAM solutions for different industries, I believe our partnership will further create synergies among C.P. Group’s industrial, aviation, smart city, food, retail, pharmaceutical and other business lines, and will unlock opportunities on a diversified UAM ecosystem and facilitate the development of smart cities in Thailand.”
Huazhi Hu, EHang founder, chairman and CEO, said, “We are thrilled to partner with C.P. Group to introduce EHang AAVs to Thailand, one of the largest Southeast Asian markets with great potentials for UAM operations. We will work with C.P. Group, who has a wealth of comprehensive business strengths in their local markets, on extensive and sustainable cooperation in various fields, to take the lead in bringing safe, autonomous and eco-friendly air mobility to Thai industries and society.”
EHang has recently been expanding its footprint to penetrate Asian markets with more customers and partners in Korea, Japan, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand.