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Post by Admin on Apr 10, 2019 17:58:07 GMT
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Post by Cluemeister on Apr 13, 2019 20:44:38 GMT
Not sure what the market Tecnam's going for. I would think the 915 in a P2008 would have been on their list for Europe...
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ash31mi
Junior Member
Posts: 58 
Home Airport: 18AZ Carefree Skyranch, AZ
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Post by ash31mi on Apr 14, 2019 5:31:08 GMT
Not sure what the market Tecnam's going for. I agree Cluemeister. A very good range of quality products, good sales info and excellent technical support from Sebring, but they could benefit from some proactive marketing in the U.S. to specific market segments. |
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Post by montanapilot on Apr 14, 2019 16:29:15 GMT
It appears to me that Shannon's strategy is to go for fleet sales rather than going for sales to individuals. When you see a press release from Tecnam, it's almost always that some flight school has purchased X number of Sierras or 2008's. In the recent issues of all of the major aviation magazines, there are ads for Bristell and Evector, for example, but no advertising at all from Tecnam.
I bought my airplane from a dealer who most of you probably don't know and whose name never shows up on the forum. I had several problems with the airplane, and I can say that the support from the factory was south of dismal. My clear perception was that it wasn't a dealer issue - it was that the factory was not supporting the dealer, and I think that makes a statement re Tecnam USA's marketing focus.
I also took a look at dealer locations. A major target market would be California. They only list one dealer there, a "Delta Aviation". However, there was no link to a website for this dealer and a google search yielded no results for that company.
For those of us who own Astores, I think we're quite lucky that they produced that airplane. It doesn't seem to fit at all with their marketing plan. I get the 2008, since it's both a great personal airplane and it has also been successful as a trainer, but the Astore is not marketed as a trainer. The literature says that "Astore" was the name of the first airplane designed by the brothers who founded the company, and that they decided to design another "Astore" to mark a major anniversary of the company (I think it was 65th). Lucky us that they wanted to mark that anniversary.
How about "the Astore was designed for the European market"? A few months ago, we took a look at Astores registered in Europe, and, as I remember, there were only one or two. Another clue is that I bought my airplane new in 2017, and although it had been on the market for 4 years, my serial number is 060. Reinforcing that is that the Astore is NOT certified in Europe at a higher gross weight than 1320 lbs., whereas the 2008 is. The reason we checked on that is that as an answer to my concern about the high empty weight of the Astore, we were told by a member of Tecnam USA's top management, who I will not name, that the Astore is certified in Europe at a higher weight. I would bet that it's designed for a higher gross than 1320, but the proof of that pudding is not that it was certified in Europe for that weight. We found a list of aircraft that are certified for higher weights. The 2008 is included, but not the Astore.
So, circling back to my initial comments, it looks like Tecnam USA's marketing strategy is focused on fleet sales rather than sales to individuals. They are lucky that there are a couple of excellent dealers pushing the airplanes, such as Mark Gregor, but I think their success is due to their own efforts, with Tecnam USA contributing very little.
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Post by Cluemeister on Apr 14, 2019 20:17:10 GMT
I agree montanapilot. The Astore is a wonderful plane, handles great, terrific speed, great styling, and sips fuel. The Astore and the P2008 are winners, but maybe Tecnam wants to produce and sell the Sierra and P92's as trainers so they can hit a certain price point in the market. But if that's the case, why dress up the P92 with the new styling if it's going to just be a trainer?
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Post by mudlupilot on Apr 14, 2019 21:30:22 GMT
A little off topic but not entirely, Flight Design announced a new Part 23 plane called the F4. It will start flying next year. It will have 4 seats, the Rotax 915 engine, ballistic parachute, range of 800 nm, speed of 155 to 160 kts, Garmin G3X, and priced around $300,000. I am certain other manufacturers also have Part 23 planes in development. This will have a highly disruptive effect on the new and used market.
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Post by Cluemeister on Apr 14, 2019 21:54:52 GMT
Well true enough with the CT bringing a certified plane to market. But the Sierra is also going to be part 23 certified. But not the P2008 or Astore.
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Post by montanapilot on Apr 14, 2019 22:06:08 GMT
Re "the P92 with new styling", a post just showed up on my Facebook page that noted that the carbon fibre fuselage lowered the empty weight.
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Post by Cluemeister on Apr 15, 2019 0:08:42 GMT
Are they going to certify the p92 under part 23 as a trainer the same as the Sierra?
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Post by ChrisConnor on Jun 19, 2019 12:31:22 GMT
When you say the Sierra went part 23, you're talking about the P2002 JF MkII IFR, right? If they wanted to make an IFR trainer for the US market, they would have to go part 23, right?
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Post by jetcat3 on Jun 19, 2019 14:47:35 GMT
When you say the Sierra went part 23, you're talking about the P2002 JF MkII IFR, right? If they wanted to make an IFR trainer for the US market, they would have to go part 23, right? Yep! I wish this was a P2008 part 23 certified with a 914, Airmaster constant speed prop, and GTN 650. The 915 iS constant speed would yield 150 knots plus starting at 10K. |
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Post by ChrisConnor on Jun 19, 2019 23:21:20 GMT
As for me, I'm in the minority. 😜​ I'm completely satisfied with my P92/912ULS and 110kts.
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