Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/776460
42 | Boating Industry | February 2017 www.BoatingIndustry.com /// Market Trends /// them a fairly universal appeal." Statistical Surveys Inc. notes that pontoon boats exhibited positive growth in 12 of its top 15 North American Basic Trading Areas dur- ing the 2016 calendar year. What's more, nine of those markets showed double-digit sales vol- ume increases. Even the three BTAs that did not achieve year-over-year sales gains in 2016 (Mil- waukee, Houston and Springfield, Mo.) came within an average of 5 percent of matching 2015 volumes. No other boat category can match this level of market consistency on a continental scale. "Many boaters who weren't specifically pon- toon boat buyers continue to shift into our seg- ment and that's really what's driving growth," said Lori Melbostad, president of Wyoming, Minn.-based Premier Pontoons. "There's no lon- ger a stigma attached to pontoons. They're luxu- rious, they have tremendous performance, and they're becoming almost sexy. Yet they're still far more affordable than a cruiser with the same passenger capacity and performance. The inter- esting thing is that we're seeing people move into pontoons in different markets all over the coun- try. There's a clear, sustained movement toward pontoons boats and it's consistent everywhere." With that universal consumer appeal, the key to growing sales — for some manufacturers at least — has been a matter of expanding their distribution footprint. "Over the past year-and-a-half or two years we've seen huge growth," said Greg VanWa- genen, director of marketing and commu- nications for Lansing, Mich.-based Manitou Pontoons. "Our sales two years ago were up almost 20 percent, and for last year they're up around 22 percent over that. We've been ag- gressive in our efforts to grow our distribution network, and we've been signing new dealers in areas where we haven't had much of a presence before, right across the States and into Canada. There is a strong demand for pontoon boats and we don't see that changing any time soon." Size matters While pontoon boats are produced in lengths from 16 to over 30 feet, the core of the market has traditionally been built around boats in the 21- to 23-foot range — large enough to accom- modate the entire family, yet small enough to be easily towed and remaining approachable to a new boater. Pontoon boats in the 21-foot and 23-foot size range continue to reflect the stron- gest year-over-year sales growth according to SSI, posting increases of 32.69 percent and 22.03 percent, respectively. "Most of our high-end product appeals to buyers coming into a pontoon from a cruiser, as well as existing pontoon owners who are look- ing to move up," Melbostad said. "They're at- tracted by the versatility and the additional space in a boat that's affordable to buy and affordable to fuel. There's some market pressure too, be- cause they're seeing pontoons everywhere on the water, their friends are buying pontoons, and they're realizing there's something going on here and they owe it to themselves to check it out." Larger pontoons appeal to other buyers with their ability to handle bigger water. Kelowna, British Columbia-based fiberglass runabout manufacturer Campion Marine stuck with its core competency when it entered the pontoon market in 2012, offering a pontoon product built entirely from fiberglass. Its Biltmore Fibertoon has gone on to enjoy unique success with boat- ers in coastal areas and on large lakes, where the Lund is entering the pontoon market with five fishing models in 2017. Fishing is one of the main activities fueling pontoon growth.