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Aviation History
2002
2002 - 2842.PDF
NEWS ANALYSIS BRANDING GRAHAM WARWICK / WASHINGTON DC Gulfstream's name game Company's decision to ditch the GIV and GV brands signals an intent to compete across the business jet spectrum Gulfstream president Bill Boisture dismisses concerns about eliminat ing the envied GIV and GV brands from the company's revamped and expanded product line. "Gulfstream is the brand," he says. So out go the GIV-SP and GV-SP and in come the G400 and G550 in a seven-aircraft line-up crafted to capture a larger share of the business jet market. Branding was a major theme at this month's National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) show in Orlando, Florida, with Bom bardier streamlining its business- jet line-up under the Learjet, Challenger and Global names, and Raytheon reviving Beechcraft and establishing Hawker as separate divisions. Cessna extended its pop ular Citation family down into the personal jet market and Dassault revealed it was again looking at a smaller Falcon. Brands have become important as operators look to trade up or down, fractional operators look for families of aircraft, and manufac turers look to fill market niches quickly and cheaply with deriva tives of existing platforms. Cessna is the master of family planning, building its Citation brand into a nine-aircraft range stretching from the $19 million high-speed Citation X down to the $2.3 mil lion entry-level Citation Mustang launched at NBAA. Attracting and retaining cus tomers has become the name of BUSINESS JET BRANDS Bombardier Cessna Dassault Gulfstream Raytheon the game, and brands are the weapons of choice. Gulfstream's decision to ditch the GIV and GV names surprised many at NBAA, but it reflects the company's deter mination to bring new customers into the fold at the lower end and move them up through a "seam less" product range. "A customer decides to do busi ness with a company," says Boisture. "We have decided to compete the company against the competition." It is no longer just the GIV-SP versus the Falcon 900EX, or GV-SP versus Global Express: "It's Gulfstream versus Dassault versus Bombardier," he says. "We have decided to com pete in every market segment above $10 million and be first in emerging markets, at the same time minimising risk and provid ing an expanded product line quickly, efficiently and reliably." Five years ago, Gulfstream was a one-product company, each new generation of Gulfstream replacing its predecessor in production. Since 1997, the company has pro duced the GIV and GV side-by- side, and last year it acquired the Israel Aircraft Industries-built Astra SPX and Galaxy, renaming them the G100 and G200. These four platforms are the basis of the expanded line-up that will be in place by 2004. Each product in the range has been designed to a price/perfor mance point - with "product" in GULFSTREAM G150 Gulfstream's eyes meaning not just the aircraft, but also option and support packages. "We have done a lot of analysis and think we are offering the right choice of size and performance," says Boisture. "We have used our expe rience to decide how to package the options." Customisation, a Gulfstream trademark, is standard only on the G400 and G550. Packaging has allowed the com pany to secure launch assistance and preferential pricing from its vendors, and will reduce produc tion costs and completion times. It would also appear to limit the buyer's choice, but "customisation comes at a price", says Boisture. "The aircraft becomes a one-off for product support. Customers are looking to Gulfstream to sift the options and make integrated pack ages. That allows us to support known configurations." A broader product range allows Gulfstream to compete for a share of a wider market worth $8-10 bil lion a year, Boisture says. The mid- Mustang S?.6m 31A 40 I S6.6m S7 5m Citation CJ1 CJ2 : Bravo CJ3 Encore S4m S4.9m: $5.5m S5.8m S7 6m Beechcratt Premier 1 Beechjel S5.5m S6.7m Learjet Excel S9.5m 300 SI 6.3m Challenger Global : 604 800 : 5000 ;Express :$23.9m S27.3m Sovereign S13.3m G100 G150 SH.5m$12.5m Hawker 800XP I Horizon S12 5m ! S17 3m Citation X S19m : Falcon 50EX ; 2000 2000EX 900C 900EX • 7X S!9.5m S21.8m S23.6m S29.6m $33m ;$40m Gulfstream G200 G300 : G400 G500 G550 S19.5m : S25.5m :$32.5m$37 5m $45m size G150, mating the G100 wing with a wider fuselage, should be more competitive with the Citation Sovereign and Hawker 800XP. The G300, a reduced- specification GIV-SP, is a direct competitor with the Challenger 604 and Falcon 2000EX; while the G500, a reduced-specification GV- SP, goes head-to-head with the Global 5000 - and is available sooner. The next-generation GIV, when it appears, will be the G450. Bombardier is not resting on its laurels and has several recently certificated platforms from which to derive new models. This year it has launched the Learjet 40 light jet and enhanced-performance Learjet 45XR, both derived from the super-light Learjet 45, as well as the super-large Global 5000 based on the long-range Global Express. The company's new branding philosophy centres on three fami lies, says Bombardier business air craft president Peter Edwards: "Learjet for speed and value; Challenger for reliability and value; and Global for speed, range and comfort." Accordingly, the super mid-size Continental has been renamed the Challenger 300. Bombardier is now looking at new derivatives in all three fami lies, including a stretch of the Learjet 45 and an aircraft beyond the Global Express, which could become the Global 7000 or 8000. Dassault, meanwhile, is devel oping the long-range, high-speed Falcon 7X and could yet venture below its traditional $20-40 mil lion price range and return to the mid-size sector once occupied by the Falcon 10. 30 24-30 SEPTEMBER 2002 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL www.flightinternational.com
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