25 April 2008
The deepening financial woes of Thielert Aircraft Engines GmbH, the German manufacturer of diesel engines, have moved swiftly over the past couple of days.
Firstly, on Wednesday Frank Thielert – company founder and until recently its CEO – was dismissed with cause by the supervisory board and had his contract terminated. Then, yesterday, “the executive board of Thielert Aircraft Engines GmbH, Lichtenstein, Saxony/Germany, has filed for the opening of insolvency at the county court Chemnitz concerning the assets of the company due to immediate illiquidity.”
As we report in the June issue of <i><b>FLYER</b></i> (out next week) the company’s finances have been under investigation for some time, with courts in Germany invalidating its financial statements from 2003 to 2005 and the share price plunging.
Thielert makes the Centurion range of diesel engines which are becoming increasingly common in the skies around the world. Cessna is to produce a version of its Cessna 172 equipped with a Centurion later this year.
