Piper Aircraft announced at AirVenture plans to appoint new dealers in 12 emerging markets to support an ambitious new international expansion plan.
Piper chief executive Kevin Gould says 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 under-represented". He says several of the new dealers will be appointed in Asia Pacific, including China, India, South-East Asia, Australia and New Zealand.
Piper is focusing on expanding its presence in the Asia-Pacific region using the expertise of Imprimis, a Singapore-based investment firm that acquired 100% of the manufacturer at the beginning of May. Gould says Piper has only one dealer in the region, in Japan, while Australia and China are represented by agents that can sell aircraft, but do not offer services or parts.
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."
Source: Flight International
