Mistral Engines SA was a Swiss developer and manufacturer of wankel rotary aviation light aircraft, helicopter and unmanned military vehicle engines based on Mazda automotive engines. [1] Its headquarters was in Geneva, Switzerland [2] and was majority owned by DEA General Aviation, a Chinese company based in Guangdong. [3] [1] A wholly owned subsidiary company was headquartered in DeLand, Florida. [4]
Mistral Engines formed in 2001 in Switzerland with the purpose of developing engines for light aircraft and helicopters. [5]
The CEO of Mistral Engines was Phillippe Durr, [2] and in March 2010, Ana Fontes became the company’s Marketing and Americas Sales Director. [6]
In March 2010, Mistral announced that it had made significant progress toward the FAA certification of its new 300 horsepower, G-300 engine, but on 9 June, due to lack of financial support from investors, Mistral had to cease the development and certification of its G-300 engine. [7] [2]
Heli Air Design, a helicopter manufacturer from France, used the Mistral G200 rotary engine for its two seat ultralight helicopter Helineo, which was launched in 2012. [8] [9]
In 2012 Mazda stopped production of its Wankel powered car, the RX-8.
In 2014, Mistral Engines was acquired by Chinese company Elecpro for €2,5 million. In 2015 Elecpro changed its name to DEA General Aviation. The acquisition was originally intended to exclude drone dual-use technology, meaning military and civilian use, but was eventually included. According to the Dutch OSINT platform Datenna, DEA General Aviation has no government related shareholders. [1]
Mistral Engines went into bankruptcy, but it was revoked in 2019 by the President of the Court of the District of La Côte and the company was reinstated. [10] The company once again filed for bankruptcy and was liquidated in 2022 and terminated in 2024. [5] [11]