Icon Aircraft told deposit holders yesterday that prices for the closely watched light sport would be going up about 30% for a base model and more than 50% for a fully loaded aircraft. A new 2018 Icon A5 with all the bells and whistles is going to set buyers back $389,000. While Icon has published a 2018 base price of $269,000, the company warns deposit holders that “only fully loaded A5 models will be delivered in 2018,” so those hoping for a basic model will have to wait until at least 2019. Tesla Motors has used a similar manufacturing strategy when rolling out its new cars. In 2008, Icon told buyers they expected to sell the two-seater for $139,000 with inflation at the CPI rate.
While some would-be buyers may wish to skip certain add-ons, many of the “options” will be hard to pass up. The base aircraft will lack folding wings for trailering and storage, retractable gear, a VHF radio, a transponder, removable windows and copilot side flight controls. The absence of “retractable landing gear” renders the A5 a seaplane (not a fixed-gear landplane). Lights for night operation, a fuel-injected version of the Rotax 912 and the electronic attitude indicator are also among the options for 2019 models. Icon tells Avweb they haven’t decided which options will be bundled together, so buyers can choose the full-loaded A5 or wait to see whether there is a cheaper package that meets their needs.
