No financing for new LSAs and no new Skycatchers.
Posted: Thu Jan 23, 2014 6:28 pm
Interesting and frustrating afternoon.
I spoke with an aircraft financing company who flatly said 'no banks are financing Light Sport airplanes'. I found a 2012 Aviation News article supporting this.
Apparently the banks feel LSA values drop quickly and they have difficulty finding guides like auto 'blue books' with which they can ascertain the depreciation of LSAs and so don't want to get dumped upon.
It seems there are three bands of buyers…very eager tire kickers, buyers that will buy but need financing, and the top group who just write a check. This top group is responsible for nearly all LSA sales currently and manufacturers like Tecnam and Jabiruru are hugely frustrated at the lost sales.
Regarding Cessna and the Skycatcher, having spoken earlier this week with a dealer, to try and find out where Cessna were at with C162 sales, I was told Cessna would accept an offer of $120k plus options.
Today I was told:
"Cessna notified us yesterday that they have suspended sales of the Skycatcher. I’m sorry, it caught my factory rep off guard too – he wasn’t told ahead of time. Cessna will continue to support the Skycatcher’s in the field, but, they will not sell any more new from the factory."
I guess nobody wants my money?!
Cheers, Howard.
I spoke with an aircraft financing company who flatly said 'no banks are financing Light Sport airplanes'. I found a 2012 Aviation News article supporting this.
Apparently the banks feel LSA values drop quickly and they have difficulty finding guides like auto 'blue books' with which they can ascertain the depreciation of LSAs and so don't want to get dumped upon.
It seems there are three bands of buyers…very eager tire kickers, buyers that will buy but need financing, and the top group who just write a check. This top group is responsible for nearly all LSA sales currently and manufacturers like Tecnam and Jabiruru are hugely frustrated at the lost sales.
Regarding Cessna and the Skycatcher, having spoken earlier this week with a dealer, to try and find out where Cessna were at with C162 sales, I was told Cessna would accept an offer of $120k plus options.
Today I was told:
"Cessna notified us yesterday that they have suspended sales of the Skycatcher. I’m sorry, it caught my factory rep off guard too – he wasn’t told ahead of time. Cessna will continue to support the Skycatcher’s in the field, but, they will not sell any more new from the factory."
I guess nobody wants my money?!
Cheers, Howard.