Boating Industry

April 2014

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www.BoatingIndustry.com April 2014 | Boating Industry | 35 BY TOM KAISER Picture yourself out on the water, enjoying a thrilling cruise in a stylish boat that glistens in the sun as it cuts across the waves. While some may imagine themselves in a pon- toon or fi shing boat, most see the fi berglass sterndrive as the consummate sport boat, even as the category's sales have plummeted in the last six years. Mainstream sterndrive runabouts — fi berglass V-hulls from 18 to 36 feet — have been impacted by a variety of factors ranging from the required addi- tion of catalytic converters, improved refi nement of outboard engines, fi nancially squeezed middle class consumers and shifting market tastes that have boosted the relative popularity of pontoons and aluminum fi shing boats. As a result, many of the industry's best-known sterndrive builders have seen their sales shrink to a fraction of their pre-recession volumes. While regions of the country have been im- pacted in different magnitudes — California, for example, sold only 14 percent of the 16- to 35- foot sterndrives in 2013 that it did in 2003 — the most stark difference is by size, where sterndrives 25 feet and below have borne the brunt of the category's decrease, while larger sterndrives have grown in sales. Cobalt posted its best-ever year in 2013 on the strength of higher-end customers. To fi nd out what these shifting trends mean and where sterndrives are heading, Boating In- dustry spoke with three key manufacturers for their insight, and collected regional sales data to better understand the future of this still-cru- cial category. Stingray diversifi es its lineup Headquartered in northeastern South Carolina, Stingray Boats focuses on the 18- to 25-foot mar- ket with a lineup that's comprised of approxi- mately 85 percent sterndrive sport boats. It has recently waded back into outboards in response to increased consumer demand, but its corporate bread and butter remains sterndrive V-hull boats. Stingray's product lineup falls squarely in the segment of the category that's been most se- verely impacted in recent years, and Mark Skeen, vice president of global sales, said the lower end of the market might only now be hitting bottom. "With the last few weeks of the show season … and even into the fall, it feels like there's defi - nitely a renewed interest in sterndrive product in the marketplace," he said. "That's exciting, and it makes me feel like maybe we have turned the corner a bit, and will be able to see the needle start going back up." As the market has struggled in the last fi ve years, Stingray has responded by focusing its Sterndrive Smaller sterndrives keep falling, while high-end stays strong The market has focused on adding versatility to the stern as surveys show owners spending more time anchored. The market has focused P34x40-BI14APR-MarketTrends.indd 35 3/14/14 11:18 AM

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