Mahindra Aerospace showed up at EAA Airventure with a new brand for the GA8 and GA10 Airvan utility aircraft, new amphibious floats and new interest in finding a US-based assembly site.
The GA-8 and GA-10 brands were inherited by Mahindra by its acquisition of Australia’s Gippsland Aeronautics. Mahindra has now dropped the GA designation, rebranding the single-engined pistons as the Airvan 8 and Airvan 10.
Mahindra has already delivered nearly 300 Airvan 8s from a factory in Australia. As the Airvan 10 nears certification later this year, Mahindra is considering a new manufacturing plan for the Airvan 8, says Arvind Mehra, executive director and global chief executive.
About 90% of the Airvan 8 are made in the USA, pre-assembled at a Mahindra facility in Seattle and then shipped to Australia for final assembly, so it would be possible to reduce the price by moving production to the USA.
“That’s our long-term strategy,” Mehra says.
Mehra adds that the location should be within an existing aviation cluster.
Source: FlightGlobal.com
