Offshoreonly.com - Can The Boat Industry Survive?

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There is no question the wisely invested companies will make it through. There is also no question that the volume builders and the smaller builders will most likely suffer the most.
That being said I want to bring up another variable. Name recognition. When I tell someone I own a Donzi, anyone who is familiar with boats comments "that's a nice boat". When I owned my 29' Kryptonite, that same person would ask "what is that?" I would then get into a lengthy conversation about what a great boat it was. Take that same person and send them to a boat show looking to buy a 27-30' performance boat and what would they buy between the two, the Donzi because they "knew" the brand. There are a lot of builders out there that make a great product but without the name recognition will have trouble selling.
The custom builders Outerlimits, MTI, Cigarette, Skater, etc. are known as the best of best and only need to sell a small # of boats to select clients that for the most part will always be around.

This is just my opinion.:wuerg019:

As to who can and who will make it through this down cycle is very hard to guess; many times the board of directors are making different plans than their public image projects, even employees are kept in the dark. And as the1st41 posted, market share, and the image a company projects can be very deceiving.

And the strong will survive statement? Sometimes a smart business leader will throw in the towel if they feel their is not a bright enough light at the end of the tunnel. Look at the Big three and how they must survive - they are taking BILLION DOLLAR hits. I know its not a good analogy for comparison, but how many boat builders could take a million dollar hit and survive?

It is just a scary feeling of how bad this could get.

Quote:

The custom builders Outerlimits, MTI, Cigarette, Skater, etc. are known as the best of best and only need to sell a small # of boats to select clients that for the most part

Any idea what this number could be? 12? 24?

How does the industry get someone to enter the market for the first time ?
It will be hard to get joe lunchbox to sign up for a new 26 Bayliner, 4 winns, cottage pontoon boat etc.
Those that are currentl owners will keep a reduced manufacturing base in business.
Also the used market will flood as owners get out.
ed