This news was expected by anyone who kept up with rumors in Wichita the last ten years. The 162 could not be made as cheaply as Cessna originally thought. The original price point was to be a bit over $100k and to do that, which was very cheap for a new high-tech airplane, the cost structure included using cheap foreign labor, lower engineering standards (ASTM), and fairly large production quantities. But blow by blow the plan fell apart as additional costs were stacked on to the cost list. By the time the 162 arrived at a final price it was too high to do any serious volume. It eventually got to $150k.

It was a noble experiment. The product was good, the company was being smart. But the lesson is clear to any light airplane manufacturer that cares to watch, if you plan to make a cheaper machine by taking radical cost reduction measures, you had better know what you are actually doing. Boeing went through a similar learning cycle with the 787.