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36 | Boating Industry | March 2014 www.BoatingIndustry.com www.BoatingIndustry.com /// Market Trends /// Reading from some in-house stats, Menne says that Premier has captured about 12 per- cent of the pontoon market. He added that the pontoon category comprises about 41 percent of all aluminum boats, and that pontoons ac- count for approximately 33 percent of all out- board-powered boats sold today. It's staggering growth and a dramatic reversal of perception for a category once derided as low-tech cruisers for the old folks. "It's a younger buyer, and we're taking mar- ket share away from the fiberglass runabout in- dustry," Menne said. "The numbers of boaters is picking up. When we hit the downturn, the number of boaters had dropped off. On the re- turn, they're going to pontoon boats." The company's opulent Grand Entertainer is a great reference point compared to the pon- toons of yesteryear. Depending on exact configu- ration, the Grand Entertainer can be 30 feet long and nearly 9 feet wide, with a third "PTX" tube for high-speed stability and steering, Flexsteel furniture, an onboard changing room, hydraulic steering, high-performance speakers with a sub- woofer, maple-inlaid steering wheel, a so-called Island Bar with lighted stemware holders and an electric sink, underwater LED lighting and avail- able dual 300-horsepower engines — a level of power that was, until recently, reserved for su- percars and yachts. Even as boats such as the Grand Entertainer and double-decker and waterslide-equipped Sky Dek have grown in sales, Premier's top sellers continue to be mid-level models like the Solaris and Sunsation. With the price of fiberglass boats skyrocket- ing in recent years, as increased governmental regulations, stressed suppliers and strained econ- omies of scale continue to impact the segment, Premier doesn't feel that has led to the rush into pontoons in recent years. "We have seen our average selling price go up considerably in the last few years because they're buying bigger boats, they want more amenities and they're loading them up with a lot of options," Menne said. "I think it's the style of the pontoon [accounting for the increased sales], adding a lot of nice furniture, nice helms, a lot of seating and easy on and off the boats for the passengers if it's young kids or if it's adults." As more young families gravitate toward pontoons, Menne said the company has seen a huge increase in water sports activities, and growth in customers requesting pontoons fitted with towers for wakeboarding, skiing and other towable activities. Beyond new capabilities enabled by more powerful engines and sport-specific features, Menne said the flat decks of pontoons have al- lowed engineers and designers to let their imagi- nations run wild with features like attachable floating sport nets, slides and technology inte- gration features that have increased the appeal of pontoons with younger, tech-savvy buyers. Premier's growth has created a handful of challenges as the company ramps up to manage the increased demand. Space at its manufactur- ing facility is constrained, yet the company has continued to expand its headquarters footprint with creative logistical management. Transporta- tion, especially as pontoons have grown in size, has increased shipping costs for the company and caused it to add additional trucks and driv- ers to its fleet. "Shipping is and continues to be … some- thing that we have to be focused on," said Con- nie Weinman, Premier's sales and marketing coordinator. "As we sell more [larger] boats, the Grand Entertainers and the tower boats and the slide boats, you lose the number of boats on your load. Instead of hauling five or six, you may be down to hauling two or three, so that puts more pressure on your trucking." Models that are up to 10 feet wide — a Pre- mier hallmark — also add to the shipping chal- lenges, a unique challenge that is much less of a factor for manufacturers of V-hull boats. As pontoons continue to grow, Menne ex- pects more engine manufacturers to follow Family-focused boats such as the Premier Sky Dek are growing in sales as engineers continue to innovate. P34x41-BI14MAR-MarketTrends-new.indd 36 2/7/14 10:42 AM