Boating industry bounces back

The marine industry’s darkest hours have plateaued following the World Financial Crisis with the positive trends emanating from the US set to buoy the Australian market.

Speaking at a media day conducted by Berowra Waters Wholesales, Brunswick Corporation’s Jeff Behan, President Recreational Boats -- Bayliner, said retail demand in the US had “bottomed out” and the industry was now experiencing steady improvement with consumers feeling better about buying new boats, and dealer floor plans and finance also rising.

“In Australia there are many positive factors that indicate that similar circumstances exist here also,” Mr Behan said.

But the Global Finance Crisis had forced the Brunswick Corporation to rationalise the number of brands it produced and some, such as Maxum, have been shelved, so it could concentrate on its ‘core’ brands such as Bayliner, Boston Whaler, Trophy, Sea Ray and Sealine.

Mr Behan said that in the 60s, 70s and 80s, about 500,000 powerboats were sold in the United State annually, but in the past five years these numbers had fallen by more than half. In 2010, the number was down to 132,000 units.

“But not withstanding the downturn in sales, the number of people going boating hasn’t changed that much. During the recent US boat show season, Brunswick’s business was up by almost 30 per cent, which indicates greater consumer confidence and market stabilisation.

“We don’t think there’s going to be massive up-swell in the market place, but we’re definitely seeing some growth,” he said.

“Australia is one of our major global markets and we spend a lot of time here getting feedback from consumers, so we can continue to improve our products and build new boats specific to the Australian market”.

Brunswick may have trimmed the brands it has on offer slightly, because of the market’s resizing, but it still has a tremendous stable of brands to service the world’s boating needs and continues to develop new products.
Its latest offering is Crestliner plate-aluminium boats -- now available through Bayliner dealers Australia-wide. These super-strong, well optioned, value-for-money fishing boats are set to revolutionise the tinnie market.