ASG’s Max Buirski sits down with Dassault Falcon’s Asia Pacific sales team to discuss the regional business jet market, how China is getting back to work, incorporating military technology into civilian aircraft, winning government tenders, the coming 6X design and production, how a salesperson should deal with being unable to visit customers and the future of aircraft sales and marketing in the age of Covid-19.
Guests:
Jean-Michel Jacob is President of Civil Aircraft at Dassault Aviation Asia Pacific, with 14 years of experience in APAC
Jerome Desmazures is Senior VP of Civil Aircraft at Dassault Aviation Asia Pacific, with 15 years of experience in APAC
Listen in as they discuss:
The impact of Covid-19 on OEMs, their workforce, production, vendors and support (5:03)
Where China is today several months after the Covid-19 outbreak (6:10)
Why Falcon has have been successful in China (8:27)
The 8X has been popular because of range and new technology
The Falcon 2000 has been popular for air medical because of cabin width and performance
China is resilient and the number of business jet inquires are increasing
Why it’s possible the Covid-19 crisis will increase the demand for business jet use by HNWIs, despite the economic impact (10:45)
It’s not all about China, customers in South East Asia are moving into larger aircraft and that sector is becoming just as important (12:29)
The importance of technology, Dassault’s roots are in military combat aircraft and the transfer of that capability into civilian products (14:05)
Falcon’s success selling aircraft to the Australian and Japanese Governments (14:52)
Emphasis on technology in a business jet (17:10)
Started with software called CATIA in the 1970’s, originally designed to make fighters better and more economical
CATIA became a successful company on its own now being used by auto and shipping industries
Heads Up Display (HUD) that started in fighters was implemented into Falcon business jets before anyone, with integrated vision and mapping systems
The Falcon 6X (19:21)
Designed around the cabin and with a focus on space and comfort for long trips
Has the widest and most comfortable cabin in its class; almost 2 meters high
It’s meant to be an extension of someone’s home or office
On track for 2022 certification and production
Why Asia is not ‘one region’ and how to market and sell in such a diverse part of the world (21:22)
How OEM sales teams should adapt to travel restrictions, air show cancellations and the ‘new normal’ (25:16)
Why even with today’s electronic communication it’s still essential to meet your customers ‘face-to-face’ (28:58)
How VR technology might eventually change the nature of aircraft sales and marketing (30:45)
The impact of Covid-19 on salespeople who are used to traveling most of the year (33:12)
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