Mitsubishi could use Mirabel facilities for the MRJ Space Jet
Now that we know that discussions are underway between Bombardier and Mitsubishi, we should begin to wonder about Mitsubishi’s intentions towards the CRJ program.
Mitsubishi’s problems
Mitsubishi may be a deep-pockets multinational, but the six-year delay and overweight of the MRJ as deeply affected its reputation. Although it will make a thorough overhaul of its MRJ program and rename it Space Jet, selling it will be difficult.
The price of oil refuses to climb and all the indicators point towards stability, which means that even if the new airplanes arriving on the market are equipped with very energy-efficient engines, the fuel savings are not enough to justify a higher price. Despite the innovations, new planes are selling at the same price as the previous generation.
To succeed in marketing its regional aircraft, Mitsubishi cannot rely solely on the added value of fuel savings and must absolutely succeed in producing at a lower cost. Japan is one of the places where it is the most expensive to produce on the planet; it is not for nothing that the Japanese car industry is one of the most delocalised. To successfully reduce the cost of production of its regional aircraft, Mitsubishi must do the same thing it did for its cars and for many other products.
What the acquisition of CRJ brings
The CRJ program is well established primarily in the United States, where 70% of sales are made and Bombardier has a service and support network. This network is perfectly suited to the needs of Mitsubishi who otherwise would have to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to set up his own.
With the acquisition of the CRJ program, Mitsubishi will have access to the group of well-qualified engineers and sales personnel; note that over the past few years, these employees have had to wrest their brakes for the development of new variants because of lack of resources. Once released from the monetary constraint, this group will be able to provide Mitsubishi with an accurate assessment of market needs and help them develop the right size aircraft.
Bombardier employees working on the CRJ are able to adapt to the next version of the MRJ, which should be called Space Jet; it would be less expensive to produce in Quebec than in Japan. Arriving with a new aircraft program would also allow Mitsubishi to thoroughly review production methods to meet the 2019 standards. As of an example a supplier like Stelia could do fuselage assembly and integration of systems before delivering them to Mitsubishi as it does for the Bombardier Global 7500.
Mirabel could very well take care of the manufacturing the 50 and 70 passengers Space Jet while Japan would assemble the 90 seats. But for this to happen, the Quebec government must take care and get the necessary assurances from Mitsubishi before authorizing the sale of the CRJ.
To add to this topic, Mr. Addison Schonland from Airisight has written the text Mitsubishi and the CRJ and we invite you to read it.
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