Baja at Miami
 

Baja setup at the Miami show weak very weak . Not even worth looking at.

Re: Baja at Miami
 

what did they have?

Re: Baja at Miami
 

I don't know if your interested, but Baja's presence at the Clevland show was very weak as well.

Re: Baja at Miami
 

There were a few at Atlantic City. But pretty weak also.

Re: Baja at Miami
 

I think Baja has not been well represented anywhere. I've been to several shows & most every show had a 405, 35 Outlaw & a 20 Outlaw. Other than that there were a few open bow models, but no other Outlaws.
Very dissapointing.

Re: Baja at Miami
 

Big Thunder had only one Baja at the St. Louis Show

Re: Baja at Miami
 

I agree,the 35 ,20,and 405 cruiser.Spent a total of 30 seconds there.The 35 looked small.

Re: Baja at Miami
 

BAJAs hiring. You should go there. Ive read your posts on the other board and you seem to have it all figured out. :D

Re: Baja at Miami
 

I was hugely dissapointed with the Baja display at the Miami show. Only four boats. I wanted to get a good look at the new 35 Outlaw when we were there. Unfortunately whoever was in charge of the display seemed more interested in having a bunch of pictures taken of the boat and they had about 20 people sitting or hanging all over the boat.
This was at around 11:30 am on Saturday. It was really sad.
Also my wife wanted to buy some Baja shirts and accesories, but they had NOTHING. Then we went to Cigarette's display and they had all kinds of cool stuff. Fountain also was selling stuff too. Oh well !!!!

Re: Baja at Miami
 

I am not defending anyone here but do you all understand the cost of boat shows?

I don't know how much baja gives there dealers for shows but I know its not near enough to cover. The Fox Chapel Marine Display at the Cleveland show this year cost almost $40,000. for floor space alone (this also included some Sea Rays and Proline boats), not including shipping all the boats there, cleaning them, paying people to work the show ect.

I wish you could see more boats at every show but I think the cost is simply to prohibitive.

You need to spend money to make money but the costs of boat shows is getting outrageous.

Re: Baja at Miami
 

All I have to say is that Baja and its local dealer did a poor job of supporting the brand. I did see Wyatt Fountain at the Fountain booth and I'm sure somebody from Cigarette was in there booth. I guess Baja is not interested in really attracting new customers. I guess they are putting their faith in repeat buyers, but that will only go so far. As far as how much it costs to be in the show, I would look at how many people were there over the length of the show. Just for your info, direct mail at most only gets you a 1-2 % return. And lets be real. I personally will never be able to afford a Cig or Fountain. That's why I am on my 3rd Baja.

Re: Baja at Miami
 

Smart A$$! :D
I'd love to work for Baja. My problem would be having to "work". I really like not really doing anything. That & I'm sure Baja isn't interested in putting a 1075SCi in a 25 Outlaw a pair of them in a 35 Outlaw. I'm interested in doing that & if I had the chance to buy a Baja dealership I'd do it in a blink of an eye. Then you would see stuff like that & it would be for sale!
Who wouldn't want to see Baja back in factory racing? Who wouldn't want to go to a boat show & hear everyone talking about the Baja with the wild paint, killer interior & big friggin' motors that is FOR SALE? Unlike the 40 Outlaw that is just a show "piece".
Who wouldn't want to see a little more pride pumped back into the brand?

Vote for Pedro! All your wildest dreams will come true.

Re: Baja at Miami
 

I 'm not knocking the return on investment for the money that goes into boat shows I am simply saying they are extremly expensive. As for fountain and the other "real" offshore boat builders maybe the sticker is reflective of the money the spend in shows.......and black hair dye and gold chains :D :D :D :D .........I couldn't resist.

Re: Baja at Miami
 

OK. At the expense of getting slammed here, I think Baja would be better served to invest their money in their quality control department. There is ROI in QC. I was in the market for a 30 OL and looked at three. ALL three had significant quality issues in the fit and finish of the upholestry. Mainly liner issues in the cabin. Just my .02... - No offense to you other Baja owners who have not seen QC issues.

Re: Baja at Miami
 

Do you think you could make a really small OUTLAW happen? Im talking Scat Cat size? A 12 or 14 OUTLAW would kick @$$ !! :D

Re: Baja at Miami
 

Right after they let me put a 1075SCi in a 25 Outlaw.
Seriously, rember the Blast? Just what you are talking about, only really ugly and under-powered. I'd still take one. I think that thing would go pretty good with a 300 Hp powerhead in it.

Re: Baja at Miami
 

No, nothing like the Blast or Splash! Something small with the current body lines of the 20, 23, 30, and 35 Outlaw! Priced like a Jet Ski, with important features like a CD Player and Cupholders!

Re: Baja at Miami
 

This is my second year in a row going to the show and last year was disappointing but at least they had a custom 40 there to grab some attention. This year was a total joke. There was nothing that stood out. The Cig, Foutain, OL, Donzi, Nor-tech booths had people waiting to get in and see the boats. I saw Reggie and the owner of Cig working there booths. These shows are certainly expensive but when people are traveling from all over the states to see what is there I think a huge presence needs to be made not a small area with weak representation. If Baja wants to continue to grow there customer base and switch buyers from other brands it is a lot easier to do at a show then in the showroom. When a customer comes to a boat dealership to see a Donzi then that is what the salesman is going to show them and push them on. They will only switch products as a last result. I think the Baja Marine needs to be behind the largest boat show in the country not just the dealers in the area. I'm from the mid-west those dealers are never going to see me when I'm ready to buy again so why show me boats, explain the new haul and the testing that went into it. They need company people and company money. I guarantee the other manufacturers did.

Re: Baja at Miami
 

One thing that I have NEVER went to a boat show to do is buy a boat. I like to go and look at all the fiberglass & hang with my friends. I can't recall ever buying anything from a boat show other than beer & hot dogs. I couldn't even keep those.

Re: Baja at Miami
 

Here is some copy from the GD area. Like I said Baja missed the boat at Miami.


From: todays Tradeonly online

Issue Date: 2/28/2006, Posted On: 2/28/2006

Fountain Powerboat touts its backlog of orders


Fountain Powerboat Industries landed record orders of nearly $17 million at the 65th annual Miami International Boat Show, the company said today.



This year’s sales eclipsed last year’s record by nearly 40 percent. The company reports a backlog of orders approaching $54 million, with sales on target for fiscal 2006, ending June 30.



CEO Reggie Fountain attributes the sales growth to the brand image the company has cultivated in its 26 years of offshore racing, tournament fishing and aggressive marketing.



The North Carolina-based company had three displays at the show, held Feb. 16 to 20. Three 2006 models made their debut: the Fountain 38 open center console, the 38 Lightning offshore high-performance sportboat and the 42 Lightning, featuring a redesigned cockpit.



In addition to the new orders, the company said it has more than 4,500 leads


Maybe better luck for Baja next year????

Re: Baja at Miami
 

Donzi and Fountian both reported record sales at this years boat show, I pretty much hung around the Donzi booth all weekend (have some freinds that are dealers) but i did visit the Fountian guys a couple of times. Both Boat manufactures were very well represented with dealers from all over the country. The booths were always crammed with people. Saying that, I went by the baja booth a few times through out the weekend and not much was ever going on. I am a Baja owner and I was pretty dissapointed in the display. I know it is very expensive to be their but, 2 of the manufactures put in aton of money in their display and in return they experienced record sales..... I guess you need to come to play hard or dont come at all. just my 2 cents...

Re: Baja at Miami
 

Let's not dismiss that Fountain and Cigarette are owned and driven by The Street. All those press releases are for investors to feel good about themselves buying those companies. Stock price is more important than anything else.

Plus, look at the venues. Fountain and Cigarette have to play big in those markets. If I was show management, i would be loving them, because they can never downsize.

Most Baja buyers, myself included, know what we want, and what we can afford. Go to a car show, tell me who has more glitz, Porsche or Pontiac. Same thing. And nobody is going to order a 35 with 1075's. That's $300K in Engine. Those guys buy Cig's, just like the buy Porsche's, not Vettes.

I know in Maryland, you can't find a dealer, but in New Hampshire, at least on Winnepausakee, that dealer is King. But the Fountains and Outerlimits are still at the dealer down the road.

Brunswick isn't Fountain. They are making money on cruisers, not Kilo Runs. Who can remember when Regal bought Velocity. You never saw 30's showcased, except for in Annapolis, at the shows.

Hey, and where do you think the cost of those shows ends up. I am thinking the 35 with the same power is less from Baja than it is from Fountain. Probably even less than an Executioner.

Re: Baja at Miami
 

Cigarette is a privately held company with no stockholdersto answer to. This is still no excuse for the half azz showing at the Miami show. If the show was worth doing it should have been worth putting 100% effort into or don't do it at all. The only thing they did was put 3or 4 boats on the floor and that was it , no literature no salesman or anything.

Re: Baja at Miami
 

I have to disagree.

We have been to the show the last three years and I think Baja does a good job.

Three years ago they had the new 30 Outlaw and that was all anyone was interested in. I don't think I even looked at another boat.

Last year they had the beautiful carbon fiber 40 OL poker run boat with 850's. WOW it got a LOT of attention by everyone that came by.

Then this year they had the new 35 Outlaw that have been really wanting to see up close and also the 405. Both attracted a lot of attention, especially the 405.

Baja has a great location at the show that costs a lot of money. It is always nice to met new Baja folks and see old friends like JR, Blane & Karen. This year they had the models and did the photo for TeamBajaMarine for the Baja Magazine with all the Baja owners that showed up which was very nice. They even got us free passes for six people for the show.

I have nothing but good to say about Baja at the Miami show.

Other then Cigarette no one really goes way over the top. Yes there are Outerlimits, NorTechs, MTI's Fountains, etc, but I cannot even get anyone to talk to me in the Outerlimits tent. Oh yeah, they are in a TENT. I was talking to Albert Haynesworth in the Outerlimits tent that had just bought a new boat and he tried to introduce me to Randy Hartman who interupted our conversation and I felt like a nobody real quick.

Look at Sonic, two boats and one cat which is actually a Mars. The 42 Sonic looks the same as it did 10 years ago. Even had dated colors. Black Thunder, WOW, last year only one boat outside in the sun, this year two boats outside in the sun.

Formula has taken over the spot where PowerPlay use to be. They had a 353, but Formula has not changed anything on their boats except for graphics in ten years. I miss Power Play, what a great boat, but they are gone, but Baja has TWO NEW models.

I can keep going on and on but Baja has a nice location, they treated me very nice as always, they had a good range of boats. They are doing "NEW" things, spending money on R & D and had the 35 and the 405 at the show.

We were more impressed with Baja then many of the companies there that are big names, with less boats and the boats they had were the same as years past with different paint jobs.

Re: Baja at Miami
 

I spent 3 days at the show and must have missedall the extra activity. my mistake I guess . I am a Baja fan and think the market is right for them to gain alot of ground on a whole bunch of other comanies but my take on the show was a very Plain booth with boats that were just plain . With a location like that in the show I feel they could have made a bigger SPLASH . Just my opinion

Re: Baja at Miami
 

Cig may be private, but it's also a company trying to over come some down years in the market. Boats are like bikes. You see HD doing shows, but not like OCC, Jesse James, Eddie Trotter etc.

I have never been down to Miami for the show, but I am sure that the "crowd" is typical Miami. Big $$ flying in so they can go home and tell their friends they bought their bought at the Miami show.

I know a local dealer her in MD told us that the line they carry, which is mentioned in this thread, sold more boats in Baltimore in January than in any other show they have ever dine in the mid Atlantic area.

Maybe what you expect from Baja isn't realistic. Mom and Pop America aren't running to Miami to buy boats. From other posts on this board, and from what I see, and I boat right by Red Eyes Dock Bar in the Kent Narrows, most guys I know, when they talk big power, aren't looking to throw it in a Baja. On the other hand, most guys I know who want to run their boat every week and not work on it, they buy Baja's

Re: Baja at Miami
 

Tha Miami show is like SEMA or the Detroit Auto show of the boating world. Lots of press and a place for companies to strut their stuff . If your only going to do it half hearted don't do it at all.