[FONT=arial,helvetica,geneva]Purchase Of Superior Air Parts Shakes Up Engine Business[/FONT]
Aviation insiders are abuzz about what may become one of the most significant developments in the U.S. aircraft engine industry in decades. German-based Thielert AG has announced it has taken over Superior Air Parts, of Coppell, Texas. The $10 million deal gives Thielert, which makes two Jet A-powered diesel engines, an instant manufacturing, distribution and service foothold in North America, something needed to support a sales campaign for the fuel-efficient mills in the world's largest aviation market. "With its outstanding products and established brand name, Superior Air Parts is the ideal acquisition to help us enhance our market position," said CEO Frank Thielert in a news release. "Our acquisition of Superior Air Parts marks our final step along the road into the U.S.-American market for engines and engine components and the expansion of our presence there." In the March 14 news release, Thielert says the deal was reached the previous evening, which means it probably hadn't been to the lawyers yet. So, Superior spokeswoman Ana Fontes said she would decline comment until the deal was finalized. Although Superior is a small company (50 employees), it has a long reach. It's the biggest manufacturer of after-market aircraft engine parts and has, for some time, built Lycoming clone engines for the experimental market. Last year, it gained full certification for its version of the venerable Lycoming IO-360.
[FONT=arial,helvetica,geneva]Diamond Delighted[/FONT]
The announcement came as Diamond Aircraft, of London, Ont., is getting ready to ramp up production and sales of its DA42 TwinStar, which is powered by Thielert 135-hp diesels. "Obviously, Diamond is delighted that [Thielert] is taking this very significant step," Diamond CEO Peter Maurer told AVweb. "The timing coincides perfectly with our ramp-up of deliveries of the DA42 Twin Star to our U.S. customers." Diamond delivered its first diesel twin in the U.S. last summer and interest has been strong in the innovative aircraft, which sips 12.5 gph at 172 knots TAS. And while support for the TwinStar and other aircraft that have supplementary type certificates for the diesel is crucial for the success of this Jet A engine, there is open speculation (as Lycoming retires active crankshafts) that the step might be only the beginning. While Lycoming struggles with the operational and public-relation realities (read: nightmares) of a vexing problem with crankshafts in some of its most popular engines, there are some who say Lycoming is vulnerable to a well-choreographed assault on its market share. Thielert's aviation business is part of a much larger engine and parts enterprise that specializes in leading-edge technology development. The company recently went public and, with the fresh infusion of cash ($166 million), is "now heading to conquer the U.S. market," according to the Hamburg Business Development Association newsletter.
[FONT=arial,helvetica,geneva]Changes At Superior Air Parts[/FONT]
In an interview with AVweb, Thielert said the diesel engine training center will be established in Dallas and parts will be stocked there -- but there's no immediate intention to distribute diesel engines and parts through the existing Superior network. In the meantime, Diamond, which is basically the only current and sizeable North American customer for the engines, is creating its own service network among its 54 dealers, with support and parts from Thielert. Thielert also downplayed any speculation about going head to head with Lycoming and Continental. "This is not our core business. We like that Superior has the IO-360 and we support them by making parts for this engine, but we have not planned to make further models," he said. "They will absolutely continue with the certified engine and the experimental engines. Where we see the advantage is to support them on the manufacturing side." What is planned for Superior is a 30-percent annual increase in parts production, likely in concert with manufacturing facilities in Germany. Thielert said he intends to leave Superior alone in the distribution and service ends of the existing business and concentrate on boosting production. All the current staff will keep their jobs and more engineers and technical personnel will be added to bolster the manufacturing side. "We want to concentrate on the manufacturing side," Thielert said. "We are absolutely in line with decisions they have made in service and distribution."
Verrrrry interesting???
Verrrrry interesting???
