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44 | Boating Industry | May 2014 www.BoatingIndustry.com www.BoatingIndustry.com /// Market Trends /// ously been possible at Yamaha. "This effort to find ways to bring features in at a lower price point and bring personal water- craft down to absolute lower price points is a huge, huge undertaking, however it's one we're very serious about and very committed to," he said. "It will be a while before you see products coming to market that are a result of that effort, but it's a very high priority for us." Speaks said such a Yamaha- branded model could benefit from an engine platform used in a differ- ent product category as a way to share tooling costs and keep the price down. On the same note, Kawasaki PWC Product Manager Bret Snider went further by congratu- lating Sea-Doo for its innovation with the Spark and suggesting his company's attention is aimed squarely at the mid- and entry-level categories. "We need to chase the volume and we need to come to market with products that represent the voice of the customer," Snider said. "There's some migration from the flagship to the mid level, so we need to place some attention there. Also, in the entry level, that's the volume, so if you're chasing the volume, you need to take a look at that entry level and determine what op- portunities there are." He added that the company's STX 15 has higher performance and a similarly higher price than competing entry-level units. "You could argue our performance is too high for the entry-level, so perhaps there's an oppor- tunity to create a variation of that model that's a lower price point with a little bit lower perfor- mance, or create a new platform altogether." Snider said Kawasaki's approach would maintain the company's established performance attributes with "trickle-down" performance from elsewhere in its product lineup. "I think even at a true entry-level product, I think we would put more focus on hull perfor- mance and probably pushing that power plant performance a little bit more," he said. The company has a specific engine in mind that is in active development for a different ap- plication within the Kawasaki stable. The market should expect "some reaction out of us in the next four model years," he said. Horsepower wars The next frontier of PWC research and devel- opment will not be confined to building new entry-level models. If recent advancements are any indication, all categories should expect a mix of new ride-enhancing technologies, as well as existing features to spread downward from the highest-performance models through the rest of the company lineups. Sea-Doo relishes the exclusivity of its Intel- ligent Brake & Reverse (iBR) system, which has recently spread to more products throughout the lineup, including the value-oriented GTI models. The company also received a welcome boost by nabbing the "Best Watercraft of the Year" award from Jet Ski Magazine. Marketing Director Julie Tourville said iBR is a crucial Sea-Doo feature in a market where close to 50 percent of the market is PWC first- timers. Tourville added that the company re- mains focused on developing technological advancements that attract a younger audience. Qualities like ease of towing, lower cost, better fuel efficiency and environmentally sustainable materials present opportunities for reaching younger customers. "Consumers have less and less time, are super busy, are looking for ways to escape, for ways to relax, for ways to entertain; they want instant gratification and I think our category is one that really indisputably provides a lot of these ele- ments," she said. "We've got great products that provide so much pleasure, time with the family, memories of great times, sunny days, and I think that in days when we are all extremely busy, I think [ours] is a great industry to be in and to provide that oppor- tunity to consumers." Kawasaki recently launched its new supercharged and intercooled, 310-horsepower Ultra 310R, which it claims is the most powerful stock PWC ever built. Aggressive, youth- ful features include 12-position motocross-style handlebars, race-inspired colors and graph- ics and new Sportseat with a high-grip seat cover that's also imported from the motocross dirt bike market. Snider said the company's range of flagship models are exceeding expectations, including the luxuriant 300LX that includes the industry's first fully integrated "JetSound" stereo system that in- cludes a pair of 30-watt speakers. "That's been received really well," he said. "The media came in, to be honest, a little un- sure what to think of it, but after experiencing the product they said … this adds so much to the experience of riding a PWC beyond what we ever thought, so that's been very good." As for whether higher horsepower is in store, Snider said there's always room to push the power envelope forward, but that would further raise prices. He suggested hull technology may be a more pressing area of research and develop- ment, along with reducing weight and improving the efficiency of its vehicles. "We've got class-leading engine performance, class-leading hull performance, but that comes with a price tag, so it's not a technological chal- lenge, it's more of what the consumers will bear," Snider said. "I think we're pushing that limit right now, and testing it especially with the LX." Yamaha has increased its PWC R&D invest- ment in recent years in expectation of a recov- ering market, and Speaks said the company's range-topping FX Cruiser SVHO — with a su- percharged 1812cc engine and a $15,399 starting price — has seen "red hot" sales and exceeded the company's expectations. As for adding more power in the near term, Speaks said "we've probably satisfied the vast Kawasaki claims its new $16,299 Ultra 310R is the most powerful stock PWC ever built at 310 horsepower. P42x46-BI14MAY-MT-PWC.indd 44 4/17/14 11:00 AM