Icon Aircraft’s outgoing public relations officer Brian Manning has shared with AVweb that the company’s “transitional” president Jason Huang announced that he is stepping down. In a holiday message to company stakeholders, Huang announced the position will now pass to Lily Hu, described by Huang as bringing “over 17 years of executive leadership experience and a proven track record of success” to the job. AVweb sent an email to Hu asking for comment, but did not receive an immediate response.
Icon Aircraft deserves credit for aiming high and trying to shake up personal aviation. Their Icon A5 is a clever design mixing flying with fun on the water, and it’s sparked plenty of interest among aviation fans. Including me. But, the market for expensive recreational planes is pretty small, and Icon hasn’t been able to grow much beyond a niche group of buyers in the U.S.
Now, they’ve hit an even bigger snag. According to a Tijuana newspaper, the Mexican government has temporarily seized their 300,000-square-foot Tijuana factory and everything in it, over unpaid wages and labor law issues. Losing control of such a critical piece of their production chain is a serious setback for a company already fighting to stay afloat. Maybe “Made in China” will work. Ah, if it doesn’t fit, force it!
It’s an interesting development. Unless the boss knows this business it is going to fail. This aircraft has a fundamental value of $125,000 in my blind opinion in today’s outrageously overpriced market. If parted out to the aftermarket crowd, what could it be worth? Give it a year in the marketplace and then we’ll have a fair handle on this venture.
No product I don’t care what it is, is overpriced if someone is willing to buy it and sales support profitable manufacture. Just because you can’t, or, don’t want to afford something doesn’t mean it’s overpriced.
Based on what you wrote, the Icon A5 is overpriced. The sales to date of the Icon A5 do not support profitable manufacture. The price is not attracting enough buyers for the company to be profitable. Recent reporting and statements by Icon indicate that sales of the A5 will need to nearly double just to break even.
Just as companies are moving production out of Communist China because of rising costs, trade restrictions, and risks of being jailed, Icon is doing what?
Yep. I was an early depositor on a Sky(Fly)Catcher. As soon as I learned production was going to China – despite what Cessna people claimed in their Airventure booth in 2008 – I cancelled the order. Airplane people are – by and large – red, white and blue types who won’t hear of or buy Chinese made. Besides the obvious, there are quality issues with anything made there. Buying a tool made there is one thing; trusting one’s life to a machine made there is quite another. I think this is the end for Icon.
Taiwan maybe ,China Forget it ! How bout Cessna ,s old stomping grounds ? Kansas ? Start over without foreign money ! Going back to basics ,with a little American ingenuity we might yet claw our way back to ,gasp , American manufacturing! Merry x- mas Ken B