Boeing has confirmed that once it takes an 80% stake in Brazil’s Embraer SA’s commercial jet division, the name Embraer is to be dropped completely and the company will be called Boeing Brasil – Commercial. This will see one of Brazil’s most iconic company names disappear from commercial jet manufacturing, despite Embraer retaining a 20% stake in the most profitable arm of the current company. However, the name will still exist as Embraer will still continue to manufacture military and executive jets from the two wholly owned divisions that are excluded from the Boeing joint venture. Additionally, nothing has yet been decided with regard to a potential rebranding of the up to 150-seat jets that will be jointly manufactured.
Boeing’s move mirrors Airbus SE taking a major stake in and subsequently rebranding of the Bombardier Inc CSeries, now known as the Airbus A220. The Boeing move will see it strengthen its share of the duopoly created in the aerospace industry for the US$150 billion jet market between the French and American planemaking giants. The moves by Airbus and Boeing further strengthen their grip on the small-to-medium-size jet market through the acquisition of weaker competitors, leaving the threat to come from Russia’s Sukhoy SSJ100 and Japan’ Mitsubishi MRJ who are both making slow progress, and the largest potential competitor, China’s COMAC.
While the deal with Boeing has received Embraer shareholder approval, regulatory approval is still awaited.
