Ok, thread drift, but here goes:Boatguy wrote: Thu Aug 07, 2025 4:22 pm These are great airplanes offered by a company which historically has treated owners poorly but now apparently wants to improve its customer relations. Is the warranty enough to sway new buyers? Wanfeng is multi-billion dollar industrial and services giant that clearly has plenty of resources.
What else could Diamond do to reverse their poor image, build owner confidence and create goodwill?
I think Wanfeng never intended an ongoing business interest in their two 'acquisitions' of Diamond from Christian Dries. To the best of my knowledge, Wanfeng have never since established any Diamond Aircraft manufacturing in China. Instead three Chinese Communist Party owned Wuhan-based 'CTEC Diamond' entities (under the 'China Electronics Technology Corporation' umbrella) do the heavy lifting. Wanfeng was most likely the disguised middleman for 'purchasing' and transferring Diamond IP to the Chinese State to avoid too close a scrutiny from the Canadian and European regulators.
The historical problem of Diamond's Austria and Canada poor after-sales services (including the total lack of ongoing Garmen firmware and feature updates, and often critically tardy parts supply) are classical symptoms of business under-capitalization and marginal cash-flow. A large part of this is no doubt the challenge of manufacturing profitability into the GA market, but whoever holds the purse-strings in China, they clearly haven't been interested in investing for future development and growth in their Austrian and Canadian businesses beyond the status-quo.
Perhaps the problem lies with Wuhu CTEC Diamond's Chinese management structure, who are effectively CCP Public Servants and highly likely not willing to risk failure and ensuing loses of status and prestige within party ranks. Whether the Austro debacles have sufficiently rattled the chains to bring credible change, we shall have to see.