Price increase coming!

[Bass2Lip]

Hey Backlash or better yet Venom1,

If a guy was to take advantage of the current pricing structure before the dreaded date of 9/30/2005 and place an order for a new 2006 201 or 216 with one of those new "sweet" Pro XS 250 Merc's hangin' on the back of it. Is the factory taking any of our older Cobra's in on trade in? Since there are no dealers established yet on the east coast to work with, the only way I could order a new Cobra and re-power is with a trade in feature. What are the chances??

Bass2Lip

[Backlash Ar]

Bass2Lip...I'm sure Ed will be along shortly, but in the meantime let me offer my thoughts...and NOTE, these are only my thoughts and may not be 100% factual! Ed will be able to set the record straight!

Venom boats is working diligently to establish a dealer network. It's a tough go! Currently they have three that have signed on, one in Kentucky, one in Arkansas, and one in Missouri. It is not easy to establish a dealer network and it's doubly so for Venom Boats, Inc. because of what happened with Viper Boats, Inc a few years back when they went into receivership. Back then, many dealers, vendors and supplier's got left "holding the bag" when the promises and guarantees made to them turned out not to be worth the words they were spoken with. That has left a very bad "taste in their mouth" which has certainly not worked in Cobra's favor. Many are skeptical the same thing may happen again so they're all sitting back watching things develop to see if Cobra can successfully rise again from the dust like the "Phoenix." Problem is, as everybody is sitting back watching, sales for Cobra's are not nearly what they should be.

With only a few in the dealer network (at this point in time) it makes it difficult to "trade in" your old Cobra and get a new one because of the distance folks might have to travel to get to get it done. I am not aware of any boat manufacturer, i.e., Ranger, Triton, Champion, Skeeter, Bass Cat, etc. who take trade-ins. That is done through dealerships. That only leaves you with one other option and that is to sell it yourself. I believe the closest dealer to you is Boatworks in Taylorsville, Ky. (502-477-2628)

I "think" the used boats you see listed as "For Sale" on the Venom Boats, Inc website are privately owned boats that must have worked out some kind of arrangement with Cobra to use their website to advertise their boat.

There is approximately one month left to buy a new 2006 Cobra at 2005 prices and I urge everybody who is contemplating ordering a new Cobra to do so. After Sept. 30, 2005 the cost of our toys is going up, and it won't just be a minor increase. This is because the materials used to manufacture boats are petroleum based products (check what's happened to crude oil prices). Add to that the increased pricing for new outboard engines and the cost of new boat trailers (steel has gone up in pricing about 50% in the last year and a half) it's gonna hurt; and I'm not just talking about price increases for Cobra boats...they're all going up!

[Tx 201]

I wonder if they have contacted any dealerships in the West Texas area? Unlike what I hear on this board, Cobras probably make up a big percentage of the bass boats out here. In my bass club we have 10 Cobras out of 20 or so boats on any given tournament. Most of these guys aren't even aware that the company is back up and going.

I also know of at least 6-10 more in the Abilene area that don't fish in our club. Seems like they had a pretty good market here and some of those guys will probably be getting ready to look for a new boat, right now their options are Ranger , Triton, or Skeeter.

I met a guy from Odessa on the lake in a new Legend, he said that guys in Odessa are asking how and where to get a Legend. Maybe they would like a Cobra instead.

By the way, it is pretty cool to see more Cobras on the water in a tournament than Tritons. I bet that doesn't happen very often around the country.

[JB Cue]

Backlash--I sent you an e-mail regarding dealers--no response. Maybe you didn't get it. Like everybody else, I want Viper/Venom/Cobra to succeed. West Texas has some good ideasand thoughts. Go find the dealer(s) that sold all those Cobras in West Texas, as well as the dealer who sold tons of 'em in the D/FW area and have 'em up to the factory for an advisory conference--ask for their thoughts and their want list to again sell Cobras. I've talked to two dealers and they definitely would again sell the boats if they could get/feel some confidence from the factory. The factory needs to develop a marketing program--like floor planning, coop advertising, an extended warranty program, etc., etc. You and Ed know what's needed--but get input from the previous dealers. They may tell you they are skittish, but deep down, they want badly to sell "Snakes" again.-----Just my thoughJB

[Backlash Ar]

JB, did not get your e-mail. I sure hope it didn't get delivered to the trash can because my 'puter somehow recognized it as junk mail/spam. Anyway, I get the gist of what you probably sent in that e-mail and will see to it that your information is passed along. JB, sending you an Instant Message! Thanks for the heads up!