Bombardier Inc. is considering building what would be its largest business jet to compete with a model from Gulfstream as order cancellations slow and growth picks up in Asia, Chief Executive Officer Pierre Beaudoin said.

Bombardier’s new plane would rival Gulfstream’s G650 model, which parent General Dynamics Corp. plans to deliver to customers starting in 2012 and sell for about $60 million. The G650 may be the world’s fastest business jet with a top speed of Mach 0.925, or just below the speed of sound.

Bombardier’s biggest current business jet is the Global Express XRS, which has a range of 6,150 nautical miles (11,390 kilometers), a top speed of Mach 0.89 and sells for a minimum of $50 million.

Bombardier, the world’s third-largest commercial plane maker after Airbus SAS and Boeing Co., rose 12 cents, or 2.6 percent, to C$4.66 at 4:16 p.m. in Toronto Stock Exchange trading. Bombardier’s widely traded Class B stock gained 84 percent in the five years, while General Dynamics rose 25 percent.

 Bombardier shipped jets valued at $3.95 billion in the first nine months of 2009, followed by Gulfstream at $3.05 billion, according to data from the General Aviation Manufacturers Association. The number of business-jet deliveries will decline to as few as 750 in 2009 and less than 700 next year, from 1,139 in 2008, Honeywell International Inc., which makes airplane-cockpit equipment, said in October.

 Bombardier’s major aerospace projects include the $300 million introduction of the 100-seat CRJ1000 regional jet, due to enter service next year, and the $3.5 billion development of the CSeries, its biggest commercial aircraft, scheduled for delivery beginning in 2013.

 Bombardier had $2.8 billion in cash and cash equivalents as of July 31. Investor Marc-André Robitaille thinks that should be sufficient to let the company fund an additional project such as the new business jet.

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