Diamond Aircraft - Yes to Farnborough and No to Oshkosh

[HPNAviator]

I attended the AOPA Fly-In yesterday, in Plymouth MA, and was informed that Diamond Aircraft have decided to skip Oshkosh this year however they will be present at the Farnborough International Air Show in the UK which opens tomorrow.

Perhaps this signifies more focus on special mission and ISR applications with the DA42 MPP than the GA market in general.

Let's see what gets announced this week, if anything.

[Robert C.]

Ah drat, wish I'd known. Was there myself with several club mates.

Flying the pattern was "interesting" wasn't it

Robert

[GLDAS]

It was great to put faces with several of the "names" here. This is the second AOPA fly-in we've participated in this season, and it was a perfect day. For any west coasters, I'd really encourage you to attend one of the two remaining events.

The format is, from my perspective as a vendor, a lot better than the old three or four day AOPA events. While it may be less convenient for some to schedule around one single day, it does help to create a critical mass of interest, content and attendance.

The pattern on Friday PM was interesting. At 5:30, there were at least 10 planes on the approach, and this was the day before the show! My son and I flew what looks like 1/3 of the way across the country and back the next day in a DA42NG, and I was again impressed with what a comfortable and capable plane it is.

As for OSH, I'm optimistic that we will have new products, a great display, and a strong presence for the event next year.

-dan
dan@greatlakesdiamond.com

[eHotAir]

I cannot believe it. I was going to Osh Kosh to meet the Diamond folks. Dang it!

[carym]

My son and I flew what looks like 1/3 of the way across the country and back the next day in a DA42NG, and I was again impressed with what a comfortable and capable plane it is.

As for OSH, I'm optimistic that we will have new products, a great display, and a strong presence for the event next year.

-dan
dan@greatlakesdiamond.com

Dan,
Your NG conversion is really nice (I enjoyed seeing it and you at the Indy event). I just want to add that flying the 1.7 DA42 all the way across the country (to Alaska last year) also proved to be a comfortable and capable plane. Unfortunately, I am due for another pair of clutch replacements in about 30 hours

[CFIDave]

The lack of Diamond exhibit at Oshkosh is somewhat related to Diamond's US business model, which is to rely on regional distributors (e.g., Premier, Dominion, Great Lakes, KCAC, etc.) to market and sell new Diamond aircraft. This is in contrast to Cirrus that sells direct via its own national sales force.

This means that the cost of exhibiting tends to fall mostly on the regional distributors. For a regional show like Sun N Fun in Florida, it makes economic sense for a southeast US distributor like Premiere to pick up most of the exhibition cost, since most attendees are potential customers from within their region.

But AirVenture in Oshkosh as a national (or even international) show means that any particular Diamond distributor would be prohibited from selling new Diamond aircraft to most of the potential visitors to a Diamond exhibit. This makes it hard for any Diamond distributor to economically justify funding and staffing the exhibit. The result: no Diamond exhibit there.

One can get into all types of arguments pro and con about direct vs. indirect marketing and distribution models for aircraft sales, but from a customer standpoint buyers are arguably best served by distributors. Unlike Cirrus salespeople who can only sell Cirrus aircraft, Diamond regional distributors can offer a large variety of (Diamond and non-Diamond) used aircraft by acting as aircraft brokers, as well as selling new Diamond aircraft -- whatever is in the best interest of the customer.

[Don]

The lack of Diamond exhibit at Oshkosh is somewhat related to Diamond's US business model, which is to rely on regional distributors (e.g., Premier, Dominion, Great Lakes, KCAC, etc.) to market and sell new Diamond aircraft. This is in contrast to Cirrus that sells direct via its own national sales force.

.

So do the USA distributors now compete among each other or are they assigned exclusive territories?
If they are assigned territories they could do some type of co-op for exhibiting at Oshkosh.

[CFIDave]

So do the USA distributors now compete among each other or are they assigned exclusive territories?

The distributors have exclusive territories so they don't compete with each other for new Diamond aircraft sales -- but do compete somewhat for used aircraft (a few share used aircraft listings).

[Don]

Well if that is the case you would think they could do a co-op and split the sales leads by territory.
Just sayin. Maybe Jeff from Premier could jump in here and give his opinion.

[krellis]

And now this - http://www.flightglobal.com/news/articl ... rt-401573/

More money spent on pipe dream projects that takes away from support and upgrades for us that have avgas Diamonds. Sorry to sound so negative, but I don't have any warm fuzzies about the future of Lycoming, Rotax or Continental powered Diamonds.

Krea Ellis