Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/288177
April 2014 | Boating Industry | 39 www.BoatingIndustry.com /// Market Trends /// Compared with many of its competitors, Cobalt's entire product lineup is powered by sterndrives, and the manufacturer has no plans to reevaluate its powertrain mix. "They ride tremendously well in rough seas and choppy water, and there's no better way to propel our boats than a sterndrive," Hunt said. "For our customers' use, which is a combina- tion of tow sports and a focus on smooth ride and passenger comfort with a large sun pad and a wonderful swim platform on the back of the boat providing water access that is not possible on an outboard, for us, it's a better way to propel the boat." Hunt added that the company has previ- ously considered diversifying its powertrain mix, but wasn't able to ignore the fact that single- propeller drivetrains cavitate in sharp-cornering conditions. He said the company's entire product lineup is currently selling well. Looking at the wider market, smaller sterndrive-powered boats have fallen sharply enough to distort the strength of the overall sterndrive category — particularly in the 18- and 19-foot range. "I think what you'll see is a continued decline of the smaller sterndrives, because a lot of build- ers aren't building small boats with sterndrives anymore, they're going to put outboards on them because there is a limited small engine of- fering in sterndrives and some builders have fig- ured out a way to make them more efficiently," he said. "As you get into larger 20- to 40-foot pleasure boats, there's no better way to power them than with the twin-prop drives, which are typically more expensive, but they serve the cus- tomers' needs better — especially in a sharp turn or in reverse, where the dual-prop sterndrives will not cavitate." As sales improve, Cobalt has continued driv- ing further sales with innovation and new models, such as the company's R and SD series models, its new 336 35-foot bowrider and the A40 Sport Yacht launched at the Miami boat show. The opulent A40 is designed to offer high performance in an elegant package, with high- end features like a hydraulic swim platform, stainless steel top, convertible sun pad, frameless windshield, Austrian free-range leather and gran- ite countertops. Hunt said evolving technology from both Volvo Penta and Mercury have given custom- ers reasons to upgrade, and that Cobalt has been pleased with both manufacturers' pow- ertrain strategies. "People love to buy new toys, and when they have a reason to buy a new toy and a reason to upgrade, it makes it a lot easier to justify," he said. "These innovations, even the small ones, give people an excuse to upgrade to a new boat." He cited examples such as digital throttle "People love to buy new toys, and when they have a reason to buy a new toy and a reason to upgrade, it makes it a lot easier to justify." — Gavan Hunt, vice president of sales and marketing, Cobalt P34x40-BI14APR-MarketTrends.indd 39 3/13/14 4:44 PM