Carmaker Chery Joins the Flying-Car Race With Two ‘Lingxiao’ eVTOL Aircraft

Chinese automaker Chery has entered the advanced air mobility race, announcing plans to develop two passenger-carrying electric vertical-takeoff-and-landing aircraft under the Lingxiao name, Aviation Week reported. The vehicles were unveiled October 20 at Chery’s Global Innovation Conference, alongside advances in driver assistance, robotaxis and batteries.

The more concrete of the two is the Q212, a two-seat design for which Chery revealed a flight test of a full-scale uncrewed prototype — hardware in the air, not just renderings. The second vehicle is a five-seat air taxi aimed at the larger passenger market. Chery had previously experimented with earlier flying-car concepts, but the Lingxiao program is its most serious commitment to the category.

The move puts Chery alongside a lengthening list of automakers treating the sky as the next mobility frontier — from Hyundai-backed Supernal to Stellantis’ partnership with Archer. Certification, manufacturing scale and air-traffic integration remain the gating items for everyone, but Chery’s manufacturing depth gives it a platform few pure-play eVTOL startups enjoy.