Piston aeroplane shipments are down 11% from last year according to figures released by the General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA) over the weekend.
Manufacturers delivered a total of 719 piston-engined aeroplanes from January to September this year, compared to 806 for the same period in 2014, a drop of 10.8%
Third quarter figures show shipments of 255 piston aircraft against the Q3 2014 deliveries of 280.
Turbo-props showed a similar decline in sales of 9.4% for the first three quarters of this year, but the overall decline for all aeroplanes was mitigated to only 6.5%, thanks to strong results from the corporate jet sector, which was up by 4.3%.
Figures for the bottom of the range, fixed-gear four-seaters were hardly impressive, with the C172SP winning Q3 with 29 shipments against the DA40's 19, SR20's 8 and Tecnam P2010's four. Piper sold no Warriors or Archers for the quarter.
Cirrus continues to dominated the high-speed market with 79 SR22/T deliveries, easily eclipsing the Mooney series (2), Mirage/Matrix (11) and Cessna TTx (4). Returning to the market for the first time since Q3 2013, the Cessna C182T Skylane recorded eight shipments.
In the twin market, Diamond's DA42 won out with eight deliveries against seven for the Piper Seminole, one for the Seneca V and four for the Beech Baron.
Major Aircraft Shipments
| Aircraft | Q3 2015 | Q3 2014 | Change |
| Cessna C172SP | 29 | 45 | -44% |
| Piper Archer III | 0 | 11 | -100% |
| Diamond DA40 | 19 | 28 | -32% |
| Cirrus SR20 | 8 | 5 | +66% |
| Tecnam P2010 | 4 | - | - |
| Beech G36 Bonanza | 6 | 6 | 0% |
| Cirrus SR22/T | 79 | 67 | +18% |
| Cessna C182T | 8 | - | - |
| Piper Mirage/Matrix | 11 | 10 | +10% |
| Mooney Ovation/Acclaim | 2 | - | - |
| Beech G58 Baron | 4 | 9 | -55% |
| Piper Seneca V | 1 | 4 | -75% |
| Diamond DA42 | 8 | 17 | -52% |
| Tecnam P2006T | 5 | 6 | -16% |
| Cessna Caravan Series | 19 | 22 | -14% |
| Quest Kodiak 100 | 8 | 7 | +14% |
| Pilatus PC12 | 19 | 19 | 0% |
| Socata TBM 900/850 | 11 | 13 | -15% |
| PAC P750XL | 3 | 0 | - |
| Piper Meridian | 7 | 8 | -12.% |
| Cessna Mustang & M2 | 9 | 15 | -40% |
| Eclipse 550 | 3 | 1 | +200% |
| Embraer Phenom 100 | 3 | 1 | +200% |
| Cessna T206H | 13 | 8 | +62% |
| GippsAero GA8 Airvan | 4 | 2 | +100% |