(Bloomberg) -- Embraer SA’s top executive hinted the Brazilian planemaker may one day expand its lineup beyond its current offering of regional and business jets.
“We are making studies for a new product, but we don’t have any concrete plans yet,” Chief Executive Officer Francisco Gomes Neto said in a Bloomberg TV interview when asked whether Embraer would consider developing a competitor to Boeing Co.’s 737 and Airbus SE’s A320.
Aerospace watchers have long questioned whether Embraer, the world’s third-largest maker of commercial aircraft, would ever step into the market for larger jets dominated by Boeing and Airbus. Launching a new commercial aircraft program can cost tens of billions of dollars and take years to execute, while missteps can lead to financial disaster.
“We don’t have any plans yet to go bigger,” Neto said in an interview with Bloomberg Radio earlier on Thursday.
Neto said Embraer’s top priority right now is signing deals for its regional jets such as the E2 model and its business jet lineup.
“We have a very young portfolio of products,” he said. “Our focus really now is to sell the products we have.”
--With assistance from Scarlet Fu and Romaine Bostick.
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