Piper Aircraft is seeking to appoint new dealers in 12 emerging markets to support an ambitious new international expansion plan made possible by its recent change in ownership.
Piper chief executive Kevin Gould told reporters during a press briefing at AirVenture 2009 in Oshkosh that the manufacturer is issuing requests for proposals to dealers and service centres in 12 countries or regions "where Piper currently is not represented or is underrepresented". He says several of the new dealers will be appointed in Asia-Pacific, including China, India, Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand.
Piper is focusing on expanding its presence in the Asia-Pacific using the expertise of Imprimis, a Singapore-based investment firm which acquired 100% of the manufacturer at the beginning of May. Gould says Piper only has one dealer in the region, in Japan, while Australia and China are currently represented by agents that can sell aircraft but do not offer services or parts.
The head of Imprimis and the new chairman of Piper, Stephen Berger, says the Southeast Asian markets Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Malaysia particularly have a lot of potential on a very low base. "These are all big markets," he says.
"China and India are areas of huge long-term opportunity but need a lot of attention to get right," Berger says, adding Piper first needs to develop a strategy and extend its network of contacts in these countries.
Piper president John Becker says the manufacturer also plans to appoint dealers to look after Central Africa, North Africa, the Caribbean, Central America and parts of Eastern Europe and the Middle East. He says in Africa Piper now only has representation in the southern part of the African continent and it does not have any representation in Central America or the Caribbean except for Mexico.
"Our goal is to have representation in every country around the globe," Becker says.
"For the last 20 years we haven't been fully positioned around the world. It's great to get that representation again and have a Piper flag in every country."
Becker adds Piper expects to appoint the 12 new dealers late this year and early next year. He says Piper already has a list of potential dealers but decided to have an open tender to see who else may be out there.
"We don't want to self-select," Becker says. "We want the global market to have the opportunity to go out and say they want to represent us."
Piper vice-president sales Bob Kromer says the manufacturer will be using AirVenture to speak to several potential new dealers. He says all the new dealers will sell the entire product line, including the new PiperJet.
Source: Flight International
