US new-boat sales fall below pre-pandemic levels

North America’s boat sales received a big boost from the pandemic, rising to numbers that some industry watchers were claiming matched the heights of the late 2000s before the global credit crunch decimated the industry.

However, the National Marine Manufacturers Association – the US national industry body that tallies the number of monthly sales – reported that over the first seven months of this year, only 187,000 units were sold, 18 per cent below the same period in 2021.

However, while sales were down overall, the consumer shift in the US saw a few boat styles build on pre-pandemic sales benchmarks – including pontoon boats, wake boats and motor yachts.

The US, like Australia, is facing the threat of a looming recession, with consumers also spooked by rising interest rates that make it more difficult to borrow the money needed to buy a new boat.

“In the first seven months of the year, new boat sales have dipped below our 2019 pace, demonstrating that the combination of economic uncertainty and the expected return of competition for consumers’ attention are starting to show their impact,” NMAA president, Frank Hugelmeyer, said in a statement.

“This is not unique to boating as most industries are experiencing pressures as inflation, a volatile stock market and talk of a global recession have grown.

The NMAA said it was now time for the North American boating industry to “lean into customer engagement and marketing” on the back of the record interest in recreational boating fostered over the last two years.

“And, while we proceed cautiously when looking across the 20-year trend line, 2022 is expected to be a healthy year for our industry,” Hugelmeyer said.

The US boating industry is coming off two of its best-selling years, with around 600,000 new boats sold in 2020-21 – the best result the industry has seen in 15 years. Of those sales, around 420,000 people – around a third of the market – were buying boats for the first time.

But it wasn’t just the number of boats sold that buoyed the market, with the buyer spend in 2021 estimated to total $US56.6 billion ($A88.9 billion), an almost 10 per cent rise over the previous year.

While shipments of new boats declined by 6.0 per cent year on year, supply constraints appear to have lifted for US-based outboard engine makers, with sales in the sector recording a polar opposite and increasing by 6.0 per cent over the period.

What was noticeable in the numbers is that the recreational boat industry had not ramped up manufacturing enough to create a glut of products on the market – a problem that a number of other industries were now facing as consumer demand dropped off – a factor that appears to have lessened the post-pandemic drop-off in consumer demand.

“Marine dealer inventories remain fairly lean signalling that pipelines are still being refilled, leaving the industry in a healthier position than past slowdowns in recent history,” Hugelmeyer said.