(Yicai Global) Dec. 17 -- Chinese carmaker Geely Holding Group has revealed plans to launch its first flying car in the US next year through unit Terrafugia and has started accepting pre-orders.

Terrafugia has already successfully tested several prototype models, Hong Kong newspaper Ta Kung Pao reported Geely Senior Manager for Media Relations Gao Po as saying, adding that the Massachusetts-based unit aims to debut the world's first

first vertical take-off and landing flying car in 2023.

The subsidiary aims to achieve annual sales of 3 million vehicles by 2020, the report said, adding that a timeframe for a China launch is still in the works.

The two-seater model named Transition uses a folding wing to switch between ground driving and air flight modes in less than one minute. A four-cylinder turbocharged petrol engine provides a 640-kilometer range and a top speed of 160 kilometers per hour. Transition requires a take-off distance of 425 meters.

The development of Transition has been a joint effort between personnel in the US and China, Gao added.

Founded in 2006 by five Massachusetts Institute of Technology graduates, Terrafugia was acquired by Geely in November last year.

Editor:  William Clegg