Chinese Buyer for Mooney?

[Geoff]

Rumor is that there is a Chinese investor looking at Mooney and that employees will be coming back (slowly) after the new year.  It could turn out to be a good thing if AVIC was the investor.  We might get IO-550's for cheap and a diesel option down the road...

 

 

Teledyne-Continental Bought by Chinese Interests

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By AVweb Staff

 

 

Teledyne Continental Motors has been sold to Technify Motors, a subsidiary of AVIC International, a Chinese government-owned holding company with diverse business interests in the aerospace sector. The sale price, according to AVIC and Teledyne Technologies, was $186 million, and terms of the sale included a commitment to remain in Mobile, where Continental has been on the former Brookley Air Force base since the 1960s.

[GeorgePerry]

It makes me sad to see the chinese swoop in and buy American companies that have been doing business here for decades.  It's a sign of the times I suppose but tragic none-the-less.

[Parker_Woodruff]

Quote: GeorgePerry

It makes me sad to see the chinese swoop in and buy American companies that have been doing business here for decades.  It's a sign of the times I suppose but tragic none-the-less.

[Hank]

Reminds me of the Japanese buying the country up in the 90's, a situation that has since partially corrected itself.

[fantom]

You don't want to add up how much of our country is owned by folks in the Middle East. It's going to take deep spending cuts, higher taxes for all, and true self sacrifice to dig out of this hole we've dug for ourselves.

The Mooney ownership and financial history saga could serve as a case study.

[Capt_CrashN_Burn]

Quote: GeorgePerry

It makes me sad to see the chinese swoop in and buy American companies that have been doing business here for decades.  It's a sign of the times I suppose but tragic none-the-less.

[bjmacdonald]

Im all for the capitolist society but when you look at what the CEOs and other heads of companies feel that they should be taking home for salaries how long can a company survive with such big draw on the profits its been a constant problem that has killed alot of bussiness

[FlyDave]

My concern is the quality (or rather, lack thereof) the Chinese are currently known for.

I WOULD NOT fly an airplane, or fly in an airplane, that was made in China. I don't want to sound biggoted but, you can take the man out of China, but you can't take the China out of the man. I live in an area with a high percentage of Chinese immigrants and if these prospective buyers would conduct business as it's done in China or as a large percentage of Chinese immigrants do in this area, I would have to think very, very hard before buying a new Mooney or even parts from the factory. From my experiences, I would not put my life in their hands. At this point, Right now I don't have much faith in Teledine-Continental going forward as it is going to take 4-5 years to see the level of quality that comes out of Chinese mangement. An infussion of capital means nothing without quality oriented management.

Again, please don't take this as a biggoted or racist slur. It is simply my lifes observations. Key word there is LIFE!

[Hank]

Quote: fantom

 It's going to take deep spending cuts, higher taxes for all, and true self sacrifice to dig out of this hole we've dug for ourselves.

[RJBrown]

 "Maybe put some welfare recipients on the road crew to DO SOMETHING in order to receive their monthly checks??"

If all able bodied persons HAD to WORK for their government handout both the deficit and the immigration problems would be fixed. No welfare of ANY kind is a good start.

The Chinese bought MG the car maker years ago and never did bring them back. They just stripped the carcase and went on.

[Parker_Woodruff]

Quote: Hank

 

[fantom]

It's a blessing to be in the company of so many like minded pilots!

[DaV8or]

I would much prefer Mooney quit making new airplanes for good and focus on parts and support than be owned by the Chinese. If that's not possible, then I would prefer them to fade away and US aftermarket companies take over parts and support. A Chinese take over is not good for Mooney or us.

[Geoff]

Like all of you here I wish things were different.  And while I'm certainly not looking to offend anyone, what if they do buy it.  Will you all sell your cherished Mooneys because the folks in Kerrville work for the Chinese?  The Chinese are making tons of very high tech complicated things these days (with varing degrees of success).  They are even building commercial airliners and looking to go after Airbus and Boeing in the international market.  The honest truth is our airplanes (other than the avionics) are primarily 1950's or earlier tech which is certainly within their grasp.

Besides our trusty FAA parts manufacturing standards would still apply.  Sounds like sour grapes to me. 

Personally, I don't think its a very good fit.  The Chinese GA market is in its infancy and will most likely tend towards utility/working aircraft primarily for which the Mooney is not ideal.  But, if they produce and sell airplanes to wealthy Chinese (and the occasional American or Euro )customers and that is what allows them to build parts for my legacy aircraft, I say great. 

As granny used to say "somethin' is better than nothin"

[Parker_Woodruff]

Quote: Geoff

Like all of you here I wish things were different.  And while I'm certainly not looking to offend anyone, what if they do buy it.  Will you all sell your cherished Mooneys because the folks in Kerrville work for the Chinese?  The Chinese are making tons of very high tech complicated things these days (with varing degrees of success).  They are even building commercial airliners and looking to go after Airbus and Boeing in the international market.  The honest truth is our airplanes (other than the avionics) are primarily 1950's or earlier tech which is certainly within their grasp.

Besides our trusty FAA parts manufacturing standards would still apply.  Sounds like sour grapes to me. 

Personally, I don't think its a very good fit.  The Chinese GA market is in its infancy and will most likely tend towards utility/working aircraft primarily for which the Mooney is not ideal.  But, if they produce and sell airplanes to wealthy Chinese (and the occasional American or Euro )customers and that is what allows them to build parts for my legacy aircraft, I say great. 

As granny used to say "somethin' is better than nothin"

[Piloto]

If the chinese buy the company most likely they will manufacture the plane in China, why? Two strong reasons 1. The production cost will be susbstantially lower. 2. The west pacific rim Mooney market is not saturated with used Mooneys like in the US. No sense on making the plane in the US for the US market just to have the same experience previous company owners had. Most likely the new company owner will look into markets in Australia, New Zealand, Japan and the Phillipines. Even though China has a big population its average buying power is too low to have a considerable number of buyers. Furthermore without a GA/airport infrastructure in the country there is not enough appeal to buy a plane vs a nice SUV.    

The Mooney advantage: 1. It is an FAA/JAA certified design. So no added expenditure on developing/certifying a product. 2. Good marketing success in the US. So they know it has good appeal. 3. Getting an FAA-PMA approval would not be that hard if the follow the Mooney, Piper or others manufacturing model. 4. Mooney is offering the chinese a good deal.

José    

[74657]

Perhaps there will be a "Skycatcher" Mooney?

[OR75]

iPads are made in China, and when I ordered a MacBook, it could track it back to China

I heard Harley-Davidson - another icon - is opening a manuafcturing plant in India.

But I am not sure what I think of all this yet.

  

[bjmacdonald]

Well all i know is Mr Mooney is rolling over in his grave !!!!!

[fantom]

Quote: Geoff

As granny used to say "somethin' is better than nothin"

[DaV8or]

Quote: Geoff

Like all of you here I wish things were different.  And while I'm certainly not looking to offend anyone, what if they do buy it.  Will you all sell your cherished Mooneys because the folks in Kerrville work for the Chinese?

[richardheitzman]

in my time at Mooney (4.5 years) what I saw was very simple. Instead of listening to the market, they listened to sales and marketing that wanted to be the BIGGEST and BADDEST and FASTEST airplane on the market, and therefore the most expensive on the market. Once you sell 300 or so, then you have saturated that market and BANG, no more sales. PLUS, they lost focus on the spare parts business, which is a multi million earner, and let the production facility fall into dissrepair. When is takes you many hours to make a part that is worth a couple hundred then you are going to fail.

Update the production facility, does not have to be robotic but at least has to have some MODERN tooling, hire about 40 skilled workers, hire ONE FREAKING GREAT MANAGER who knows how to A: MANAGE, B: MAKE PARTS, C: CONTROL COSTS, D: RUN A FACTORY and get back into the parts business for a couple years. Grow that to a 10 million+ yearly operation, finance a couple engineers to bring the earlier Mooney (M20J) back into production while keeping it under 200K and BANG, you are back in business.

Feaking simple.

[rorythedog]

Quote: richardheitzman

 

 finance a couple engineers to bring the earlier Mooney (M20J) back into production while keeping it under 200K and BANG, you are back in business.

Feaking simple.

[OR75]

the chinese can do that ...

[Ron McBride]

What is the difference between a J and an Eagle or Ovation.     About 1 foot of fuselage, and 2 more cylinders.   I would guess that new airplane buyers want the G 1000 etc.  A J might save 50,000 from an Eagle or Ovation.

What is the difference between an Cirrus SR20 and a J?    Not a lot, neither are selling.   Only SR22's sell in a large number.  The customers want high performance fast aircraft.

If Mooney wants to servive and build planes, it needs a marketing department to compete with Cirrus PERIOD. Mooney is a better product. The 2nd thing that Mooney needs to do is update the manufacturing. Unfortuantely this also means that the new plane parts won't interchange as easily with the Vintage planes. Mooneys are hand built custom aircraft. As an example, not even the baggage doors are interchangeable from plane to plane, Serial # 5 and #6.

Ron