So how are the Elite Series actually doing

[Gaspergoo]

Haven't been in here in a while, I know its my fault, but I was wondering, just how are the Elite Series doing as far as boat sales anyone know, I finally checked the website out, don't know what I was expecting but I thought it was nice touch, seems to me that they are promoting the Elites a little which is nice, I still see quite a few Champs on Fork still and even a couple of new ones ever now and then.
Anyway just wanted to see how the brand is holding up, you guys have a good one

[ChampioNman]

Guess that would be a question for Jason Bragg. He's at the plant, but the results would probably be better after boat show season.

[Champion190CX]

Saw one at Cinncinnati boat show yesterday,Freedom Outdoors had a 210 with 250 SHO on it. Fit and Finish appeared as good as Original.. The trailer was channel with road armor coat,nice..Sadly the only CHAMPION reference was on the front of the console Black CHAMPION emblem and V wing hull The dash gages had stratos in them..seats were bare.with no Chrome emblems Im afraid folks either want a Ford or a Chevy,not a mix.


Modified by Champion190CX at 1:47 AM 1/24/2011

[Lea]

A Champion is still a Champion, regardless of what the decal says. I can tell you, if I ever get a newer rig, it will still be the Champion, even if it is wearing a different badging. Anyone who knows and loves the boats, will feel the same way. I would hope people would have better judgement than to refuse to buy just because of a name.

[mr.coon]

i saw one of the new ones at cabela's a couple of weeks ago. it literally brought a tear to my eye.

[211 alpha]

Lea,
I will have to respectfully have to disagree on your statement. Having run Champions for last 17 years and 7 new boats later , I made a switch to a different brand. I never bought a boat just for a name but the total package which you would receive for your purchase.
The performance was always the major consideration of my purchase but resale, pride of ownership, customer service and the feeling of being more than just a $ to the company was always there for me until now. My personal feeling is that the Champion Elite Series by Stratos will never have the following that Champion had in the past and will always be the one on the outside of all of the boats being built in Flippin. I feel for me , a true Champion believer, that there are other companies out there that have more to offer in the total satisfaction of owning a boat. While the hull may be the same the entire boat package to me has greatly changed.
I am thankful that they kept an awesome hull available and wish them the best but the time has come for me to make a change to what I think is the best fit for me. I will always check out this forum and will help in anyway that I can.
Long live Champion but if you look , the total package of Champion has changed.

[bassin butch]

I think the name was more than just a sticker on the boats. It is like rebranding a Harley to something else (Hey its just an emblem) isnt it? No its a lot deeper than that!

I think the exit of buyers to other brands is more likely than not. I am keeping mine for the long haul and I cringe at the thought of someone saying: Hey MR whats a Champion I have never heard of them.

35 Years of pride all gone in a heap of greed and mis-management, sad very sad!

Jason and team are no doubt building a great boat and I wish them the best, But if I wanted a Stratos I would have bought one.

Regards
Butch

[rid 05 198]

but at the time

[Lpolk]

I promised not to reply to the subject ever again,but can't help it. I loved what the Champion Brand stood for in my mind. I bought a boat that was in a league of it's own and stood for prestigue in a special way. Sorry, nothing can change that. I can't get past all the quality that I purchased when I paid 43,000 for the complete package, name and all as a proud owner. Some things just can't be cloned.

[Lea]

Guys, Please don't misunderstand me. I am just as torn about the loss of our brand as its own company as you all are. Possibly even more. My passion for Champion goes back 21 years and is as strong as anyone's, if not stronger.

I guess what I was trying to say is, if we don't get the support for the remaining hulls, regardless of name, we will lose the last of the great Champions....period. That would be an even worse tragedy than losing our name has been...

[Gunnar]

Well - I think my position on this is well known already & I will not comment further... However, *If* I ever tire of my current new 198 - I'd probably be looking at a company that stays true to their heritage.... Like this, for example:

http://www.bbcboards.net/zerothread?id=580577

[FEARTHETURTLE210]

I cant see Stratos or the powers that be cancel the 3 Champ models. I think the opposite. the 183,202,210 are fabulous hulls and once a guy takes a test spin he will be hooked, plus lets face it there were less Champ dealers around the country and with this move its brings these hulls to more dealerships and more customers are going to finally see a Champion hull up close.

[Gaspergoo]

Boy you people crack me up, you just can't get over that hump about the rebranding, wrong decals, ford or chevy thing can u. God ….now I don't come in here all the time but the times I do, I go directly to the Champion room and read just about every topic/answer in here, more often than not it degrades to the same old thing, answer this, when someone comes up to u and makes a comment about your boat, what do say. Or when someone tells you "nice boat too bad they don't make them anymore", what do u say. Pick your answers wisely, for u might just be pointing the finger at yourself, when this brand finally does morph into something else
Well enough of that……

Thank you ChampioNman, that is just the answer I needed, I am curious to fact that not what the sales difference is before the rebranding, but that the consumer's faith in perceived quality
has changed, like all businesses, the company I work for was down 40% from the year before, but, we are seeing a gradual increase in sales, thru what we believe is the turning around of the economy, and customers actually looking for quality in workmanship, value for their money so to speak. After looking at new Rangers,Bullets,Legends, Skeeters, Champion Elites, the upper tier of bass boats, even at the advertised price of 55K its still the best buy on the market IMO
Champion190CX, I too have seen the new ones, I like them, many improvements
road armor trailer, should have been done years ago, would have saved me 700.00 this fall, because that is what I am going to have done to mine, the gauges, replace them, one of mine quit and I replaced them all with Farina's, seat emblem, needed to done, my silver has turned to gold and started cracking and peeling off, looks like %^$#, but don't have 1000.00 to replace them just spent 2500.00 on up grades on her anyway
Lea, I am right there with u
Champ196, you and I are like the 2 kids that went to different schools together, I agree Champion has changed, but what is there not to like
Bassin Butch yes it is very sad, but it is what it is

Now that I have &^*%$@ everybody off, what is the point of this BS and rant, why did I even ask about sales? in Oct. I had a friend that was looking to buy a new boat, I let him take mine to the lake and fish a couple of weekends, he was sold on a new champion, I had even pointed him in the right direction, the 210. I told him the best place to get the info and ask questions was here, three weeks ago he paid cask ,53K, for a loaded to the gills 2011 Legend 211 Alpha. when I saw him last weekend I asked him what happened. He said he lurked in the shadows on BBC for a while, not knowing what to expect, but to his amazement, the negativity he got from being in here, pretty much changed his mind. He did not want to buy something that people questioned, ie. how much longer will this brand be here, bad history, bad mouthing this, ….. well you guys know the story.

Bottom Line:

I know that my buddy will be completely happy with his purchase and I am glad for him, I just wished I had keep my mouth shut, which is something I don't do very well

Sorry for the rant

[WhataBass]

I have an 25th year anniversary edition 2000 Champion 191... It's not an Elite... What am I missing other than under the seat storage?

[Gunnar]

<table width="90%" cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 align=center><tr><td>Quote, originally posted by Gaspergoo &raquo;</td></tr><tr><td class="quote">When someone comes up to u and makes a comment about your boat, what do say. Or when someone tells you "nice boat too bad they don't make them anymore", what do u say. Pick your answers wisely, for u might just be pointing the finger at yourself, when this brand finally does morph into something else....</td></tr></table>

Sorry - I'm a bit confused... I like the answer you (yourself) came up with a while ago...

<table width="90%" cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 align=center><tr><td>Quote, originally posted by Gaspergoo &raquo;</td></tr><tr><td class="quote">Now for all you people that say a boat is a boat is a boat, just with a different sticker on it, its all the same. A boat is just a tool to use, it doesn't matter what it is as long as it gets me there and back,....etc. - Ok lets just move on down the road there is nothing we can do about it...

I say to u, you just don't get it, and you never will, and I am so sorry that you won't. Tools ????? These are the tools I use Revos, Falcon Rods, Lowrance and the boat I run, Champion...

Maybe the Marines won't mind if we borrow their slogan:

"The Few, The Proud, The Champion Owners"

Here's to the good guys

Thank you I am out of here</td></tr></table>

[Gaspergoo]

Gunnar, I have come to the conclusion or realize, don't know which one, that my Champion roots, so to speak, do not run as deep, as some people on here. You might be one of those people I don't know, if you are more power to u
I had always wanted a champion but for some reason never got around to buying one till 2005, I have owned boats since I was 15,such as
PowerCats,Tidecrafts,BassCats,Rangers,Skeeters, plus several models of each brand, and I will say, I take more care/baby this thing than anything I own. At least thats what my wife says anyway, course I told her it was because it never talked back, again wrong thing to say. But I never said I was smart, I was proud to be able to own a champion and still am
I also understand the pride,commitment, blood,sweat and tears, and the rich heritage that went into making each and every champion. Just the other day I think I read somewhere on here course I could be wrong, that said "someone convince me to buy a champion"
Those are the people that don't get it,and I don't understand why something has been around for 30+ years, that we need to convince them. So where do I stand, I will say this, at that time I had dropped a lot of money for a boat that looked like it was done, nada, no more,
boy was I pissed, and if I hadn't been upside down it would have been gone, but I was so, I kept it, being caught up in the heat of battle and not seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, I twisted off and went into the deep end, do I still agree with what I said yea to a point, and this is where I have soften my stance, I still use the tools I said and I still run a Champion, will always run a champ from now on I really don't care with decals are on it, this is the roots I am talking about. If it looks like a champ ,smells like a champ, runs like a champ, has deckspace like a champ, and storage like a champ, Damn if it aint a Stratos. So get your Stratos and I'll get mine, lets run down Lake Fork with a 25 mph south wind, when we get there I'll give you a beer with no foam on top, that my friend is a champ.

Hope you understand my point

Well I just did what I bitched and moan about earlier, ask a simple question and it degrades into stuff that should have been completely solved by now or disguarded
So the original quote was "what would your answer be", I think I answered mine, had my buddy all set to buy a champ till he came here, and got scared off,
with that said, are we the ones, that one day, down the road, will look back and see the brand gone because we don't like the decals on it, because, trust me this place influences a lot of people

[Gunnar]

I understand what you're saying James - and I know your ChamP blood runs deep like many on here and that's why you feel as strongly as you do....

From my viewpoint, though, we owe it to the 30-year heritage to educate new folks on what makes a ChamP hull a ChampioN... for as long as they are produced... Therefore, I personally cannot (and will not) simply sweep the brand under the rug and let unassuming new folks think they are what they are not...

I was in the same struggle as your friend (probably about the same timing) but was lucky to secure one of the last Tennessee hulls made... The changes at hand actually pushed me harder to move when I did and the questions surrounding the move to Flippin meant little to me... *Because Of* - my understanding of what makes a ChamP a ChamP... *And* because of many of the fine folks here who's first hand knowledge & honesty is without question

[MMosher]

I'm still pissed they moved from Mt. Home..........

[ChampioNman]

<table width="90%" cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 align=center><tr><td>Quote, originally posted by MMosher &raquo;</td></tr><tr><td class="quote">I'm still pissed they moved from Mt. Home.......... </td></tr></table>

No your mad they canned your dad!

[Lea]

<table width="90%" cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 align=center><tr><td>Quote, originally posted by ChampioNman &raquo;</td></tr><tr><td class="quote">

No your mad they canned your dad! </td></tr></table>

Not nice, Fred!!!! Bad boy!!!!