I am currently renting a 2 year old Cessna 172 SP, at the local
airport.
And now, I am very interested in purchasing a new Cessna 172 SP.
I subscribe to “Trade a Plane” (a popular aircraft sales newspaper),
so I know the prices, but I do not know the current Cessna 172 SP
market conditions.
My question is:
The (yr. 2003) Cessna 172 SP, is now for sale at all Cessna dealers,
and I would like to know if CURRENT sales, at the Cessna dealers are
poor, good, excellent, or roaring hot.
Also, is the Cessna factory going full speed building the 172’s, or is
the factory going slow, and holding a large inventory? |
Request for Question Clarification by
ragingacademic-ga
on
12 May 2003 01:53 PDT
clicker5 -
Thanks for submitting your question.
I have some very specific data on sales of the 172, but it's a bit
dated - 1997 and 1998, to be exact. However, it is clear from this
data that the 172 is by far the best selling general aviation plane on
the market - and I have evidence that indicates this trend has
continued through 2002.
Exact numbers from dealers and from the production line could only be
produced by insiders (and this would, of course, not be ethical on
their part) - given that it is unlikely you could procure such insider
data, do you think what I am offering to provide you with is
sufficient?
thanks,
ragingacademic
|
Request for Question Clarification by
pafalafa-ga
on
12 May 2003 07:43 PDT
Hello Clicker5,
I've been looking into your question, and what I can offer is an
overview of the current market for single-engine planes (which is, in
a word, "soft") and some particulars about business conditions at
Cessna regarding its single engine planes.
However, there are not many specifics on the Cessna 172 SP in
particular. However, there is also no reason to suppose that sales of
the 172 SP would be distinctly different from trends in the overall
market for single engine planes.
Let me know if the sort of answer I'm suggesting would satisfy your
needs.
|
Clarification of Question by
clicker5-ga
on
12 May 2003 09:15 PDT
Hello ragingacademic and pafalafa:
Thank you for your interest in my question.
I do not want information that is more than 1 month old.
I need to know the current market conditions, in order to feel
comfortable buying a brand new airplane.
However, I did not consider that this sort of information could be
produced by insiders, and it may not be ethical.
Because of the possible conflict of ethics, I will close this
question.
Thank you,
Clicker5
|
Clarification of Question by
clicker5-ga
on
12 May 2003 09:17 PDT
Please do not answer this question.
I need to close the question.
clicker5-ga
|
Request for Question Clarification by
pafalafa-ga
on
12 May 2003 09:56 PDT
Your choice about the question, although there's certainly nothing
unethical about getting a basic market overview.
Just so you know, the overall market for single-engine planes is very
soft right now. When the tech bubble burst, and the economy started
to sink, sales of personal and business aircraft were one of the first
things to go down the drain.
Cessna sales have dropped quite a bit, and the company has even closed
one of its manufacturing plants...a large recall of Cessnas last year
didn't help things either (for instance, sales of Cessna jets dropped
from over 300 last year to just over 200 for the most recent year).
Conversely, Cessna sales of parts and service has actually increased,
as more people keep their older planes in use, rather than buy new
planes.
Good luck with your decision.
|
Request for Question Clarification by
omnivorous-ga
on
12 May 2003 10:04 PDT
Clicker5 --
Current production data is available for Cessna 172's in a report
that's less than 1 month old. However, the real issue may be dealer
stocking levels. General aviation shipments have been depressed
dramatically since the Sept. 11, 2001 attack on the World Trade Center
and dealer inventory levels have been adjusted.
Pricing has been pretty stable for new aircraft thanks to depressed
demand but also due to the emergence of low-cost single engine designs
from Cirrus and Columbia. Your best guide to pricing is to examine
the prices in Trade-a-Plane for year-old LOW TIME Cessna models.
The C-172 is an excellent training platform and the new models are
significant improvement over older models, particular in the cabin
comfort and avionics -- and I'm speaking as a former owner of a C172 N
model. It's also highly prized as a training aircraft because of its
sturdy design and spin recovery; you might wish to acquire one and put
it into lease with a local FBO.
This question (combined with information from yesterday's question)
can be answered easily without prying into confidential data.
Best regards,
Omnivorous-GA
|
