The going has been difficult with many customers ordering just one to begin with.
“The market is not so much price sensitive as trust sensitive,” concluded Guimbal.
I think the two point's above are really interesting. If you were setting out to maximise revenue for a 2-seat machine (value x units sold), what would that price need to be?
When the R22 was introduced in 1979 it cost $40,000 if you use one of the online inflation calculators that comes out at around $131,000 in todays money and at that kind of price level they sold 400 units per year. It's now priced at $285,000 and they sell around 40 of them a year.
The R22 started in the realm of the expensive car buyer and is now much, much more expensive which would seem to make sense. There is of course the fact that the R44 came along which is a much better machine for a private owner, if you can afford it.
Is the above quote merely a facet of the fact that now only very wealthy private individuals can afford to purchase helicopters, in which case the safety and performance are much more important that the cost.
It would be very interesting to see if 2-seater sales levels of 400 units per year would return with a machine at around the $150,000 mark.
Obviously the cost of developing and certifying a machine are far higher these days, so its not really fair to compare the R22 and the G2, this is merely a discussion what effect escalating costs are having on the light helicopter market in general.
Looking forward to the G4!
CRAN
