Boating Industry

March 2014

Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/264625

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 37 of 51

38 | Boating Industry | March 2014 www.BoatingIndustry.com www.BoatingIndustry.com /// Market Trends /// jeopardize the quality and try to grow too fast. Sales growth has been accompanied by internal growth at Bennington that has included more people and more trucks, among other changes, to keep up with current demand and prepare for future expansion. As the market has expanded, the company has seen its demographics move beyond empty nesters and retirees that enjoy pontoons for their ease of use and physical accessibility. "We're fi nding a lot of young buyers in our product as well because young buyers they like to be able to go to the sand bar and have a lot of friends and have a good time — pontoons are very conducive to that," Vogel said. "We've done a lot of things to improve the performance of our boats … and the engine companies have helped make more powerful engines that work on our boats also. Another thing that we've done as Bennington, and even as an industry, is to design more stylish boats that are just more appealing to a variety of buyers not just the older buyers." That increased performance has expanded the versatility of pontoons, already a strong suit of the category. More power and the advent of triple-tube models have enabled water sports activities and higher speed cruising that has at- tracted a wider audience. "It's a trend that takes time where people rec- ognize the versatility of the boat and so in a lot of ways it can be a better value for a consumer versus buying two boats, a fi berglass and a pon- toon," he said. "If you're going to buy just one, in a lot of consumers' minds if [they] can put the horsepower on the pontoon and go fast and have a tight turning radius … and perform water sports, then maybe I just save the money and stick with the one." Keeping current with shifting customer trends is a challenge for all pontoon builders. Bennington's challenge is staying in touch with its high-end clientele to stay on top of chang- ing tastes in colors, materials, furniture and even fl ooring. Vogel said fl ooring has become a major trend with carpet and traditional vinyl fl ooring being superseded by woven designs, teak and even bamboo. New tastes and ideas often result in addi- tional fl oor plans, which can impact builders' economies of scale. While pontoons tradition- ally had L-shaped couches and a pair of fi sh- ing seats, new confi gurations — like Bennington launching the segment's first stern-lounge chairs — have become a major quality of today's pontoon designs. "Honestly that's another one of the drivers of the success of pontoons," said Vogel. "We're not constrained by the hull of a fi berglass boat so each year we can more easily reconfi gure and move around and do things, try new things, try it, and if it doesn't work as well as we thought, not a huge investment on our part." When asked how much fancier these boats can get, Vogel says that ideas come from all around, and that the sky is the limit with no end to the creativity or proliferation of additional fl oor plans in sight. Bennington is planning for 10 percent growth in 2014, but Vogel notes that the company's growth rate has been decelerating and that he doesn't expect double-digit growth to continue far into the future. "Things don't go up forever and they typically don't even go up and plateau, so we're going to be conscious of watching that growth and the ac- celeration or the deceleration of that growth, and keep an eye on it and just doing our part to try to ensure that it doesn't actually turn to negative growth any time in the near future," he said. Smoker Craft's focus on performance Part of the Smoker Craft family, its Starcraft, Sylvan and SunChaser brands offer pontoons that range from affordable family and fi shing vessels up to Starcraft's extravagant Majestic Bennington's 2575 QCW Mahogany Edition is one of the most opulent pontoons available today. P34x41-BI14MAR-MarketTrends-new.indd 38 2/7/14 10:43 AM

Articles in this issue

Links on this page

Archives of this issue

view archives of Boating Industry - March 2014