From land to sky, Toyota’s’ flying obsession ‘is not a momentary impulse. This automotive giant had already set its sights on air traffic ten years ago, while Joby Aviation has been dedicated to electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) technology for a whole decade. The combination of the two is not a simple capital game, but directly applies the lean manufacturing thinking of automobiles to the research and development of aircraft.

Toyota not only injected funds, but also deeply intervened in the supply chain and engineering manufacturing, helping Joby push the prototype towards mass production step by step. The key to this long-distance race lies not in who flies faster, but in who first obtains airworthiness certification and achieves controllable cost scaling. While most flying cars are still in the PPT stage, Toyota and Joby are already conducting test flights, building factories, and obtaining licenses, gradually bringing sky commuting from science fiction to reality. This kind of ‘slow work’ actually builds a moat – after all, safety and reliability are always more valuable than showing off.