Mooney hopes to build 20 aircraft this year as it continues its re-entry to the high-performance single market. At a news conference at AirVenture, Director of Marketing Lance Phillips said they’re planning to ramp up to 40 aircraft next year with a goal of maintaining about 50 aircraft a year after that. Australian certification of the latest two-door models of the Acclaim and Ultra will open a market that has been historically strong for Mooney. It’s borrowing a few marketing ideas from the automotive industry as it ramps up its business and a familiar name is again associated with the brand.
Mooney has entered a marketing alliance with iconic carmaker Porsche. There will be no technical cross pollination, however. In the 1980s, Mooney and Porsche certified the PFM 3200 an aviation version of the six-cylinder boxer engine in its 911 sports car for aircraft and while it attracted a lot of attention it didn’t sell well. One of the automotive-style marketing ideas for new Mooneys is called Fill and Fly. For the first three years, new Mooney owners will only pay for fuel in most cases. The company will cover all the scheduled maintenance and consumables in the first three years.
