Piper Aircraft slashed the price of its M500 turboprop single today by nearly $300,000, to $1.99 million, as the company repositions its the M-Class product line in anticipation of certification of the new $2.853 million M600 turboprop single in the third quarter. In addition, a newly upgraded executive interior will be standard on each M500 and includes a new color palette dubbed Inverness. The Hartzell five-blade composite prop, recently certified for the M500/Meridian, will also be a factory option for all new M500s, it said.

Besides the M500 repositioning, Piper also announced that the price of the Matrix unpressurized piston single has been cut by about $40,000, to $899,000. “This price reduction was designed to help customers step into the Piper M-class family at a more competitive price point,” it said.

Meanwhile, the M350 pressurized piston single will offer the redesigned executive interior as an option in two color palettes: Inverness and Wellington.

“Our goal was to create price spacing between the products that would support the optimal step-up structure as well as a seamless transition. Furthermore, the team spent a great deal of time developing equipment lists, options and packaging to further differentiate each product within the M-class family,” said Piper president and CEO Simon Caldecott. “As part of our ongoing product improvement initiatives, we saw an opportunity to provide our customers the best value proposition for each product while differentiating each aircraft in the lineup. This approach gives the customer a reason to step up from one M-class product to another as their needs and experience dictates.”