Two things are killing light aircraft in general at the moment. One is cost of acquisition and two is cost of operation.
I have heard from those interested in a new PA31 that when they inquired at Piper they received a response along the lines that they would gladly reactivate the line if they could drum up say 20 orders or so for the aircraft. That is 20 orders at the current price which would be estimated at $2-$3 mil a unit.
Once you purchase your Chieftain you then need to make money off it or at least justify the cost of investment for private use. The aircraft will cost not much less than the 30 y/o ones to operate.
If you were to opt for new more efficient engines and weight saving composites the initial price will soon double offsetting any gain in operating cost. This will be due to the cost of the new technology and the recertification process needed, spread over the small orders that will benefit from these options.
Overall it is not just the light aircraft market that is struggling for new equipment. Beech is in chapter 11, they are struggling to keep their head above water even though they are pretty much the only small twin turboprop producer with the king-air. No commuter/regional turbo-props smaller than the ATR-42 are being produced for the western market. The ATR-42 is even struggling for sales, most operators going for the larger ATR-72. The first level at which you see some sales success in recent years is the 70 seat turboprop market. There is a huge void in the new aircraft market between the light to medium single trainers/private market and the 70 seat regional. So far the impact has been large on small communities which have lost air services as these aircraft are retired from useful service. The operators themselves can not afford the costs associated with newer aircraft purchase and the communities can not afford the increased fares without huge subsidies.
I think it will still be a while before the public and regulators will accept single engine passenger operations on a large scale, especially for RPT and corporate charters. People would rather drive or get on a bus/train.