Cessna announced a new twinjet derivative yesterday to serve as a step-up for Mustang owners or as a higher entry-level Citation between the Mustang and CJ2+. Called the M2, the new entrant revives the CJ1+ airframe but with a Garmin G3000 avionics suite, 1,965-pound-thrust Fadec Williams FJ44-1AP-21 engines, subtle winglets and, compared with its predecessor, higher-quality interior furnishings and greater speed. Cessna will have a fuselage/cabin mockup at the NBAA Convention next month. Perhaps more important, however, the M2 lops about $800,000 off what the CJ1+ cost when Cessna quit building that airplane earlier this year. Competing nose-to-nose with Embraer’s $3.91 million Phenom 100, the M2 carries a price tag of $4.195 million. According to M2 business manager Brian Rohloff, the cost savings stemmed mostly from switching to a Garmin suite (in place of the CJ1+’s Rockwell Collins Pro Line 21) and in negotiating with Williams on the price of the FJ44s. For certification and pilot type ratings, the M2 retains the type designation C525. Among the M2’s specs: max cruise speed, 400 knots; time to climb to 41,000 feet, 24 minutes; mtow, 10,700 pounds; mission fuel, 3,309 pounds; and full-fuel payload with one pilot, 500 pounds. Cessna said the prototype will fly in the first quarter of next year, followed by FAA certification in 2Q/13 and entry into service in 4Q/13.