What economic downturn? Why jet skis are ‘recession-proof’
Australia’s economy might be having a bit of a wobble, but Yamaha thinks personalised watercraft sales will power through hard timesHousing prices may be flat or falling, consumer confidence has taken a hit and the brakes have slammed on the new-car market for seven months in a row.
However, a leading industry expert claims sales of personal watercraft – more commonly known as jet skis – are effectively ‘recession proof’.
“They do have a curiosity that (PWCs) often increase sales during a recession,” said Brad Ryan, Yamaha Motor Australia chief operating officer and director, at the recent launch of the new-for-2019 Yamaha WaveRunner jet ski range.
“In particular, during the (Global Financial Crisis) in 2007-08 we saw a lift that continued for quite some time. It was an unusual event that has shown to be resilient for a long period of time.”
Ryan said several factors were behind the increase in PWC sales in the midst of an economic downturn.
More than a toy
“In part I think it’s the product, because the product keeps on improving. They are much more like a marine craft than … just a fun toy,” he said.
“They can be used for a multitude of uses and I think that’s catching on quite a bit. They can do just about everything you can with a small boat with the added factor of (being) a hell of a lot of fun.”
Ryan said PWCs were more convenient to tow than boats because they didn’t require vehicles with high load ratings. They were also easier to store than boats because they could be moved around by hand.
Sales increase
Despite warnings of an economic downturn, Yamaha is predicting a sales increase in 2019, largely on the back of its new flagship FX range, a new budget-priced performance model called the EXR, and a revamped version of its race-winning GP1800R.
“The market in general, we think there will be a small lift,” said Ryan. “Sales have been growing steadily for a number of years in row … about 20 per cent over the past five years.”
The PWC market in Australia is worth about 6500 to 7000 sales a year across all three brands. However, the three main players – Yamaha, Sea-Doo and Kawasaki – only exchange sales data among themselves. Unlike the car industry, they do not release sales numbers publicly.
Yamaha said it would start rolling out its 2019 model year range from early January.
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