Reports hardly seem believable but the CBC says that Bombardier Inc. has sold a majority stake in its CSeries passenger jet business to European aerospace giant Airbus for “no cost” which is to say nothing. It is an indication of the competitive and regulatory hurdles faced by Bombardier from both Boeing and the US government. The move comes after lacklustre sales and the U.S. Commerce Department imposition of harsh duties on Bombardier. It accuses the Montreal-based company of selling the CSeries planes in the US below cost and receiving government subsidies. The Commerce Department recently announced it would impose an 80 per cent duty on top of duties of nearly 220 per cent. The case has been a win for US-based rival Boeing. Boeing has said it didn’t move early enough against Airbus subsidies in the 1970s. Airbus is now is a global giant.
BOMBARDIER JET WILL BE MADE IN ALABAMA
The Financial Post says that under the agreement, which was signed Monday, Airbus will acquire a 50.01-per-cent stake in the CSeries program and provide the Bombardier division with procurement, sales and marketing and customer support expertise. Bombardier will now own approximately 31 per cent, while Investissement Quebec will own 19 per cent. An Airbus assembly line in Mobile, Alabama will make the CSeries there to qualify it for sale in the US without punishing tariffs. Below is the French language news conference held late Monday.
