Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/306360
46 | Boating Industry | May 2014 www.BoatingIndustry.com /// Market Trends /// a live deadmau5 concert at the Fontainebleau Miami Beach on March 23. The company invited 500 fans to attend the free concert, and encouraged participants to post a photo to Facebook or Twitter with the #SparkSomeFun hashtag. "He's an extremely well known music pro- ducer, he's got an extremely big following, but we also knew that he was a Sea-Doo fan, which was a key element that sparked the idea of col- laborating with him," Tourville said. Looking forward Although its market share has declined in recent years, Kawasaki's Snider strongly reaffi rms the company's ongoing commitment to the PWC market. He added that its dwindling share is cause for concern, but that the company's cur- rent challenge has less to do with its products, and more about exposing the product to con- sumers at trade shows, through demo rides and at other public venues. "We invented this segment — we're in a refocus- ing stage right now," Snider said. "From a product point of view, we have a few holes in our lineup, but the product that's available today I would put against any other product out there. We're full steam ahead in staying with this segment." Looking ahead, he added that the company is always examining other possible confi gura- tions and innovations that could be brought to market. One possibility, which he noted was an observation not any hint of future product, is the ongoing popularity of stand-up PWC, which are still a presence at some watercraft races. "I'm not suggesting that we're doing anything about it other than looking at it from way outside and wondering, but I've attended some water- craft races this year and was quite surprised to see the number of stand-ups," he said. "A lot of them are old Chris Fischetti long-haired hippies that never got out of it since the 70s, but what's surprising to me is the number of young kids that were involved. In talking to them, [asking] 'Why are you doing this?' a lot of them were moto- cross kids that got tired of hitting the ground and wanted some form of competition and more rider-active recreation." Yamaha's Speaks sees the potential for signifi - cant segment growth in the coming years, noting that approximately 21 million Americans rode a personal watercraft last year. He added that there are approximately 1.6 million registered PWC in the country, yet the industry sold less than 50,000 new units last year, suggesting there is ample room for growth. "Prior to the recession the market was very stable at about 80,000 units per year and we're currently operating at … between 45 and 50,000 units, so we're way down from pre-recession lev- els," he said. "I expect as the economy improves and as consumer confi dence improves that we'll see personal watercraft volume move back up towards pre-recession levels. Whether it will get back up to that exact level I don't know, but we have a long ways to go." Sea-Doo's Tourville declined to offer any predictions for 2014 sales, but waxed optimis- tic about the impact the Spark will have on the company's overall PWC sales. "The initial read is extremely positive, dealer feedback is extremely positive, consumer feedback is positive as well," she said. "People like the fact that it's extremely accessible, so that's of course the number one element that stokes attention at boat shows. They also like the fact that it's not only accessible as far as entry price, it's also acces- sible in terms of fuel effi ciency, [and the] ability to tow it behind smaller cars, which opens it up to a broader audience. Plus, although it's more acces- sible, it's also cool looking, customizable, colorful, and extremely playful in the water." PWC SALES BY REGION Makes 2010 2011 2011 2012 2012 2013 2013 Sales Sales Growth % Sales Growth % Sales Growth % SEA-DOO 39.60% 45.94% 16.01% 48.43% 5.41% 49.98% 3.20% YAMAHA 34.52% 39.64% 14.83% 40.53% 2.24% 40.42% -0.26% KAWASAKI 13.74% 13.10% -4.69% 10.19% -22.20% 9.18% -9.94% HONDA 12.12% 1.31% -89.21% 0.84% -35.68% 0.39% -54.04% HYDROSPACE 0.02% 0.01% -30.85% 0.00% -100.00% 0.00% FUZION 0.00% 0.00% 0.01% 0.01% -25.85% QUADSKI 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 0.03% Source: Statistical Surveys Inc. P42x46-BI14MAY-MT-PWC.indd 46 4/17/14 11:00 AM