Boat Business present and future

[pmgoffjr]

I'm no swami, but it's obvious that the boat business as we know it is gone. This could eventually be a very good thing, but short time it looks like chaos will reign.

The medium sized manufacturers will be the ones that take the biggest hits, the small self contained companies (Bass Cat, Allison come to mind) will probably keep on plugging along at their own comfortable pace.

The real change will be the large independent dealers, they are the ones drowning in floor plan right now, with no place to hide it. This will leave two market avenues left, the ginormous Tracker type stores, and the small guy who lives on service and sells a few boats a year.

This will mean the boat companies that survive will have to choose a direction, get in bed with the mega stores, which will cause all manners of problems, or set your sights on the small guys, and become a custom shop that can build on demand.

Neither one of these fits the current champ model, so it will adapt or vanish.

[FEARTHETURTLE210]

Just wish that this whole bankruptcy would get finished and layout the future of Genmar or the bassboat lines. I dont think i would ever buy a boat from a BPS style dealer. I would prefer small company that cares about its customers regardless of big contingency bucks for fishing out of a specific brand boat..Sure glad I have my Dream Champion now.

[BalsaBee]

[QUOTE=pmgoffjr] the small self contained companies (Bass Cat, Allison come to mind) will probably keep on plugging along[/QUOTE

My respect goes to the companies that continue to do it right through the good times and the bad. Family owned vs. corporate owned or foreign owned. My brand loyalty goes out the door. When I buy a new boat I know who will get my business.

[HydraSports]

There are only a couple companies big enough to weather this storm IMO.

The really small shops are only surviving because percentage wise, they have cut back less.

I work for a boat company that has only averaged about 3 boats per day. We are still in business but shutdown for the majority of this year. (jan to end of march, and july till now) I've been building odd boats here and there with two other people, which makes for a comparatively slow process but we do what we need too. But this isn't enough work to actually call folks back to work.

Things will start to pick up quite a bit next year I think. The economy is on the upswing, job loss is tapering off, housing slump is tapering off, credit reluctance is tapering off or even over.

The one thing that will hurt boating ESPECIALLY the boating industry I'm in is fuel prices rising with the economy.

Plenty of folks can pay a $500 boat payment on a 80,000 boat, but can't justify paying another 1,000 a month in fuel when fuel is $3+/gallon.

[HydraSports]

One other thing. This will only HELP to provide better boats. Boat builders have to up their game in order to sell boats. This will mean better built boats, and more standard features. Boat builders are desperate to sell. Selling boats for a little less profit vs not selling boats at all is a no brainer at this point.

In areas with multiple boat builders companies will be able to pick and choose the best employees, instead of just settling for those who treat their job as 'just a job'.
As a department manager my biggest problem was always finding someone who treated their job as more than just a job. Some folks don't gather that while they are only a small contributor to the overall product, they still are performing a vital task, on a product costing as much as, or more than 100K.

Boaters, almost ALWAYS build better boats, and perform better on the job.

[bassin butch]

Pat said "I'm no swami, but it's obvious that the boat business as we know it is gone. "

I agree! It has already happened to the auto industry, no boma money for the boating industry.

What we the passionate ones need to realize is: A boat is a luxury item no more or less.

The new right sized industry will have a smaller footprint likely to consist of cost effective, fuel efficient models. I reckon we may have a lot of 16-18 foot boats with 60-115HP engines. If you doubt this ask yourself how many folks are buying big SUV's today.

Many product lines are on a death-march for sure!

Future is: lean manufacturing, low overhead, global sourcing, and cost effective materials.

Butch

[DOUGMCGEEFTD]

Pat I beleive you are exactly right. thats why i hope champion goes to an independent owner like they used have as a family such as BCB,Allison,Blazer etc.

[HydraSports]

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by bassin butch &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">P


Future is: lean manufacturing, low overhead, global sourcing, and cost effective materials.

Butch


</TD></TR></TABLE>

Companies have been headed in that direction for last 3-4 years. That's not really the future.
Small boats, and premium boats are the future. Fuel efficiency should be as well. For some reason most boat builders have been sitting on their hands for years on this issue though.

[Muz]

Like FEARTHETURTLE210 said


Thank God I have my dream Champ already

[Phil S.]

I agree that the Boat building business is and will continue to be under a lot of pressure (as almost all industries are right now) and that there will be a lot of changes in the future. For me, I will hang on to my 1997 Champ with that gas gussling 200 efi merc. LET THE BIG DOG EAT (gas that is).

[Rollo331]

i totally agree Pat,i have been in the boat building industry 19 years and i think you are spot on....

[Bassin Bob71]

I bought my Champ 203 used from a small Ranger dealer. To give you an idea how small, this guy's office was part of his house. He had a very small showroom with 2-3 boats tops and a small shop. For his size he sold alot of boats new and used and provided terrific service. He's one of the nicest guys I have ever dealt with. A couple years ago, Ranger came to him and said you need to order X number of boats per year and keep X number on hand. There's no way he could have done this and after probably 25 yrs of being a Ranger dealer they broke their ties and he is now carrying another smaller brand. I wonder after all this settles out if small dealers like this guy are the ones who will come out on top to your point.

[Judge25]

I for one am one of the smaller dealers that Pat is reffering two. Pat and 198 Champ makes a whole lot of sense on this as far as who will be left. Alot of manufacturers turned their nose up to these small dealerships that has been in business keeping a low overhead for years. Greed and bad management now has doomed some. The same manufacturers have realized now that the dealer with the lowest overhead and a proven track record will be the rebuilders in this industry. The dealers that built these Deghtmahall dealerships in the past 15 years and are holding 3 million in aged product with curtailments due will be gone without some very deep pockets. Manufacturers this is not the auto industry and the grass is not always greener on the other side. I for one do not post much here but i do hope Champion does survive i too have a good freind employed. Pat the knowledge you display about this product and the industry leads me to believe you would make a fine Dealership owner. But i can tell you are much smarter than that.

[pmgoffjr]

Thank goodness I got out of it before it imploded.

I'm not suited to stare at the same four walls and putting up with the same peoples garbage every day.

[Royjulius]

[H2O_Fowl]

Banks loaning to any joe blow who came through the doors and wanted to buy something was grand while it lasted and they were able to move huge amounts of product (boats, cars, motorcycles) How long did they really think this would last? In the end greed was the straw that broke the camels back and not just with the boat business. I think I know of a book that talks about greed.

I remember when the trend and the wave of the future was super dealerships. I had a small dealer explain it all to me once and he too went with the idea just to stay in business because it was all he had. Of course he is long gone because the area he was in just wouldn't support his business and the huge overhead he was required to keep by this boat company. This all started around the mid 90's.

Funny how things come full circle isn't it. Or in this case may come full circle.

[HydraSports]

WRONG.

Fuel prices broke boatings back well before the economy completely tanked. If you were in it you saw it coming for awhile, unless you were blind.

[BassinBarrister]

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by HydraSports &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">WRONG.

Fuel prices broke boatings back well before the economy completely tanked. If you were in it you saw it coming for awhile, unless you were blind.</TD></TR></TABLE>

I agree. In talking to some reliable people at a major marina on a well-known lake, I learned that in 2007 the marina business (primarily gas and boat rental) was down 40% and in 2008 business was down another 40% (from the already reduced business of 2007 levels). 2009 was slightly less than 2008 levels. These figures were confirmed by articles I read in a trade journal I receive. You could see it on the lake with the significantly reduced boat traffic. Of course, the sorry state of the economy, including unemployment, reduced pay for those still employed, the erosion of home equity, and big investment "hits", has just amplified the problems in the boating business. Just ask Reggie Fountain.

[pmgoffjr]

One can banter back and forth about banks, money system, interest rates, blah blah blah...

The bottom line, the economy is based on our mobility, anything that restricts it will have an effect.

[1fastfishnski]

Didn't Champ try going the gander mountain route? Did that help out at all?

Champ stays around, I still miss my 1991 184DC