During this period of ownership, SOCATA focused its activities on general aviation, manufacturing thousands of light aircraft throughout the latter half of the 20th century.

During 1979, SOCATA decided to reorganise and rebrand much of its production programmes, one of the results of which being the renaming of the various models of Rallye series, each one receiving an individual, "more Gallic" name.

[4] During the mid-1970s, SOCATA commenced work on what would become the TB family of general aircraft; a key ambition of this new product line was to entirely replace the firm's existing and highly successful Rallye series.

[5] Basic airframes would be produced in advance and finished upon order, allowing for customer-specified modifications and optional equipment to be installed as per their demands.

From the onset, key performance criteria were established, demanding a high level of reliability while also being capable of an unequalled speed/altitude combination amongst the TBM 700 other single-engined peers.

[6][8]: 135  A pair of separate production lines for the TBM 700 were planned, one located at Mooney's facility in Kerrville, Texas, which was intended to cater to the American market, and the other based at SOCATA's factory in Tarbes, which was set to produce aircraft for customers throughout the rest of the world.

Early feedback received from operators and pilots was typically positive about the capabilities of the new aircraft, often praising its speed and generous power margins amongst other attributes.

[7] According to aerospace publication Flying, while the TBM 700 had rapidly proved popular and a good aircraft on its own merits, the services and support facilities SOCATA provided were an initial point of weakness.

The firm had separately purchased in excess of 30 retired MS760s from the French and Argentinian governments;[12] JetSet International Ltd reportedly had ambitions to refurbish these existing airframes and to install current-generation jet engines and avionics for the purpose of selling them on to operators for approximately $550,000.

[14] During March 2015, use of the SOCATA name was formally discontinued, the division having been rebranded as just Daher to more closely align itself with its new parent company.