Aero: Pipers M-Class Sales Strong, Factory Bulks Up

Even as it announced new a new initiative into the piston training market last week, Piper reports that sales of its big-ticket M-Class airplanes continue to show growth, with strong interest coming from Europe. At a press conference on the opening day of the Aero exhibition in Friedrichshafen, Germany, Piper CEO Simon Caldecott said sales of the M-Class airplanes—the turbine M500 and M600 and the piston-powered M350—are up 36 percent over the previous year.

Piper has had a European sales network for some years, but has announced that a new company, called FlySmart, will begin marketing aircraft in France beginning this year. Meanwhile, Piper said it has received EASA approvals for Garmin's NXi EFIS system—the follow-up to the original G1000—for the M500.

Caldecott said Piper had a record year in 2018, with 229 aircraft delivered totaling $263 million in sales. That's a 48 percent increase over 2017 and was driven significantly by trainer sales, including 151 Archers. Caldecott said Piper expects to deliver 180 Archers in 2019.

Growth in 2020 will be boosted in part by the recently announced Pilot 100 and 100i trainers, a low-cost variation on Piper's venerable PA-28 type certificate announced last week at Sun ‘n Fun. In this podcast recorded at Aero, Caldecott said response to the Pilot program has been "overwhelming" and although the factory has the capacity to produce more aircraft, finding trained workers continues to be limiting. Nonetheless, Piper has invested in new production equipment and technology, including a new line devoted specifically to trainers.