The CJ4 has arrived... the most recent and anticipated of the CitationJet series of jets from Cessna. Since the early 90's, Cessna has been improving upon their original CitationJet design through a series of design improvements carried out through the release of the CJ1, CJ2, CJ3, CJ2+, CJ1+, and now the CJ4.
The CJ4 represents the culmination of technological and operational lessons learned from across the entire Citation product line. Significantly improved cockpit ergonomics, system reliability, performance bump, door design, etc has led way to what is to be the most drastic change to the 525 brand since it's inception.
Though it is likely that Cessna has taken more orders on speculation on the CJ4 than the manufacturer would hope, the CJ4 stands to provide a lifeline for the boys in Wichita, breathing life into a segment of the market that has stood at a proverbial standstill since the beginning of the financial meltdown.
Cessna is likely to deliver just under 20 Cj4's this year, and we expect that number will improve to around 30-35 next year... At $9M a pop, and a customer base that is still hurting from the degradation of value associated with their current holdings (likely other Citation's that have lost significant value since purchase)... the market is there, but it is limited.
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