The R-540 sold well at first, with over 400 engines being built in 1929.[3] However, with the impact of the Great Depression, sales plummeted, and only about 100 further examples were built over the next eight years.[3] Wright finally ceased production of five-cylinder Whirlwinds in 1937,[3] concentrating on larger engines and leaving the market for small radials to companies like Kinner and Warner.