"Would be interested in hearing more about the rationale of this move from the Embraer side! Does anyone have a link to a good independent source on this?"
I'm not sure how independent you regard FlightGlobal to be:
https://www.flightglobal.com/news/ar...than-w-450001/ (may require login)
The interesting bit in this article is this: 'Consolidation has led to the rise of super-suppliers constructed to maximise leverage against Airbus and Boeing. Bombardier and Embraer both faced the prospect of negotiating with suppliers five to 10 times larger than themselves, to feed a regional and small narrowbody market that is tiny in comparison with the narrowbody operations at the big two.'
IOW, supplier consolidation means that both Bombardier and Embraer no longer have sufficient market clout to keep supplier costs under control. In business, if you cannot control costs, you're finished.
But duopoly? The real threats always come from unconsidered vectors. Here:
https://quillette.com/2018/07/02/thr...ia-university/ a chap says: 'I had hoped sciences and engineering were somewhat insulated from the progressives. But if Media Studies students are Teaching Assistants in the College of Engineering, that means the progressives are infecting – yes, infecting – other departments than the social “sciences.” Yes, “sciences” because from what I can tell, true science has been all but abandoned in these fields. If they are truly spreading into the hard sciences and engineering, I fear for the bridges and skyscrapers n 20 years after our scientists and engineers are taught that physics and mathematics are products of the cis-white racist patriarchy and can be ignored for “your truth.”"
- to which a respondent replies: 'Would you fly in an airliner designed by someone who believes that ‘physics and mathematics are products of the cis-white racist patriarchy and can be ignored for “your truth.”’? And perhaps more to the point, would they? Perhaps it’s a non-question. Would it even fly? Would it ever make it out of the workshop? Not to worry. The Chinese are now making airliners.'
- which is a long-winded way of saying that The Duopoly's current engineering pre-eminence is not necessarily a given, in the long term. A fish rots from the head.