Hot of the press from Boattest.com

[feeez]

Sea Ray is up for sale

http://www.boattest.com/view-news/5617_ ... y-for-sale

[bud37]

Will be some interesting to see who appears as the possible buyer, I believe in one article , they had hoped to have the deal done by mid 2018......sounds like maybe ,could there be a pot on the stove??........ ..

[SanJuanDreamer]

I didn't know...
The general public has always had a misconception of how many new boats are actually sold in the U.S. In 2000, there were 342,000 new boats sold in the U.S. – outboard boats of all kinds, inboard ski/wake boats, inboard cruisers, and sterndrive boats. Today, new boat sales, in the same categories, total less than half that number.

[jcoll]

I had no idea that sales dropped off that far either. There have been conversations on the dock about who can possibly afford these new boats. I guess the answer is - not too many! I always look around the marinas as I travel and see the boats that are there. My unofficial survey is a lot of 10 to 20+ year old boats out there still doing fine. What's going to happen to available boats to buy in the future?

[tomschauer]

I certainly knew sales of larger new boats were way down, but I did not realize how far. There used to be many dealers in our boating area that stocked millions of $ in new big boats every year and would flip the stock a couple time each year (I consider big over 30' for our area). Some of these no longer stock or sell any boats and the one that do stock and sell 12-27 footers. Also, in our area, marina space used to be at a premium. If you didn't pay your summer slip by February 1, you were out, because they had a waiting list. There are now few if any totally full marinas.

[bud37]

I agree with you guys, true , when you check around the marinas, it seems there are very very few new boats compared to older. Geesh you can spend 80k on a 19' fishing boat now.....fits in the garage though...

[RGrew176]

The cost of new boats has far outstripped inflation. That is one of the causes for the decline in new boat sales.

[Ramsport47]

Qr Bbpost Will be some interesting to see who appears as the possible buyer, I believe in one article , they had hoped to have the deal done by mid 2018......sounds like maybe ,could there be a pot on the stove??........ ..

Someone I know in the industry believes that Marinemax will end up owning Sea Ray. Doesn't sound good. From #1 boat brand in the world to being owned by a dealer group...

[denpooch]

Thanks for that link feeez. Interesting read.
With luck our friends at the Carver group stay strong.
Their customer support and response to inquiries has been excellent.
As I am new to this brand, I can say that as far as I am concerned they are a top notch organization. I hope they are around for many years.

[Ramsport47]

Qr Bbpost Thanks for that link feeez. Interesting read.
With luck our friends at the Carver group stay strong.
Their customer support and response to inquiries has been excellent.
As I am new to this brand, I can say that as far as I am concerned they are a top notch organization. I hope they are around for many years.

Carver has weathered many storms, and, with some struggling, has always come back. I think it may be the people of the upper midwest where Carver is located that help keep existing owners interested and recommending Carver to new people.