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40 | Boating Industry | March 2014 www.BoatingIndustry.com www.BoatingIndustry.com /// Market Trends /// lighting inside and out and a better usage of space in the back of the boat. Customization has also been a trend that's gained importance in pontoons, as it has in many other industries. Whether it's colors, layout or furniture, Barrett said customers want the ability to create something that's unique to their tastes. "We're seeing that largely in flooring," he said. "In addition, we're also seeing lighting ef- fects … LED lighting is really popular and the consumers [are] really liking it." Looking forward, Barrett speculates that pon- toons may soon include better electronics that synch with mobile devices to control many as- pects of the boat, lighting included, from a smart- phone rather than on-board controls. Another trend is pulling weight out of the boats through a variety of means, with the goal of improving performance and economy, while also requiring less horsepower for boats of a given size. "We're cautiously optimistic about the mar- ket," Barrett said. "The shows this year have been relatively well attended and the response has been very strong … we're very optimistic about 2014." Nautic rides the cool wave Holding the third-largest spot in the pontoon industry in terms of annual units sold, Nautic Global Group has a huge footprint in the mar- ket with the Sweetwater, Sanpan, Aqua Patio and Parti Kraft family of brands that capture ap- proximately 12 percent of the category. Within the company, pontoons comprise slightly more than 50 percent of the overall product mix. Nautic recently relaunched its Parti Kraft brand with new materials, modern colors and up- graded furniture that's designed to evoke a similar vibe felt on today's high-end patios. After showing the upgraded line to its dealers, new Parti Krafts will be seen at the season's major boat shows. "Everybody's got their special seating con- figuration or a different rail design, but a lot of the floor coverings are the same, and the vinyls are very similar," said Steve Tadd, director of sales and marketing for Nautic Global Group. "In this sea of sameness we wanted to do some- thing that was out of the box and with Parti Kraft, the vision for that brand is to take the love affair of people have with their backyard patio, kind of a high-end backyard patio and bring that onto a pontoon boat." Tadd added that what was once considered high-end in the pontoon market is now solidly mid-level. "It's crazy, and that's what attracts people who were used to buying a small cruiser or a large runabout into this type of boat," he said. "The fact that outboard power has come such a long way and is so clean and quiet, you don't have the smoky old outboards that you had to deal with [and] it's one more reason for pontoon boats to be very appealing." Rather than focusing explicitly on attracting a younger demographic, Parti Kraft's mission is to change perceptions of what a pontoon can look like with chic design and upgraded materials. "It's been one of those things that some people love it and [for] some people it's not for them," said Tadd. "For somebody who wants P34x41-BI14MAR-MarketTrends-new.indd 40 2/7/14 10:43 AM