Mitsubishi MRJ

Sukhoi Superjet 100

ACAC ARJ-21

 

Looks like a couple of E-jet's and a DC-9 to me.

 

The Japanese aircraft too closely resembles the E-jet. Most companies will not want to go with an unknown replica over a known and proven aircraft.

The Russian aircraft will very likely not find a market in the US. Ever.

The Chinese jet will probably be popular throughout Asia and enjoy some limited success in Eastern Europe. However, like the Russian airframe, it will not find a market in the US.

The E-jet and larger CRJs are going to continue to be the staple of North American small jet fleets. When the C-series rolls out, it should do quite well, assuming the geared turbofans deliver the promised performance with great maintenance reliability.

 

90, 95 and 85 seats - built in defiance of most scope restrictions. They must expect a demand level.

 

I doubt the airlines see it as an unknown replica. They probably only care about the operating costs and support structure. So, if the Japanese version is appealing in these regards I would imagine at least a few airline will buy it. Except that being the first operator of an airplane is not always fun trying to get the kinks worked out.

Mitsubishi hasn't had many orders yet, but I would not count the Japanese companies out. That is what the big three auto manufacturers first did.

You are correct about the other two. With the Superjet, they have worked very hard to make the plane appealing to western companies, but I don't think they will have much luck.

 

Few years back the thought of going to Brazil to buy airplanes seemed like plain insanity to me. But they've managed to build decent airplanes...

As far as regional jets, I think they're at the same level, Embraer might be jumping ahead of Bombardier with their 190s... But there is no comparison when it comes to corporate jets. Embraer will never be able to compete with Bombardier's Challenger and Global Express products....

actually can anybody compete with Bombardier's Biz Jets (besides Gulfstream obviously)???

 

I have been following this for a while...

The Chinese airplane may not even get western certification...it was not designed from the ground up to specifically meet FAA requirements. It's capacity and performance is not sized to western RJ markets, but rather to a specific niche in China's domestic market. Also this airplane is essentially a "practice" airplane...China has reorganized their aviation industries (all government controlled) with the intent of ramping up to produce large airliners. This RJ is a first step to that end, they don't care whether they sell them in the US.

The Russian RJ is similar in that it is targeted at domestic markets...there is a shortage of good home-grown airliners in russia, and there has usually been a HUGE import penalty on Boeings and Arbii. It looks like it will get FAA certification (reciprocal based on euro certs), but I'm not sure it will be a strong competitor to bombardier and embraer.

As for the Mitsubishi...the design details are very exciting, they improve on many of the traditional RJ downfalls. It's safe to assume that the Japanese can make good on their intentions...expect to see these here in the US.

 

I agree rickair7777. Here are a couple more attempts on the Bomba/Embraer market.

ATR -600 Series - ATR

"Antonov": AN-148

 

Yes, how dare they design planes for the world, and not just the US. Damm them all to h*ll .

 

I suspect, also, that the Japanese plane has the highest likelihood to arrive in the US. Mitsibushi reps showed up at SKW and gave their sales pitch already. I'm told the guys really didn't speak english too well, but kept saying "see? better!!"

I notice that they didn't publish an empty weight. I didn't see anything so far that's any different than their competition. Whatever designers say on weight and fuel burn, I've yet to see a finished product that didn't burn more and weigh more than the original estimates.

So, like any new market entrant, a comparable product will have to compete on price. And that will sell in the US.