Member
Posts: 86
Location: Fond du Lac, WI | Got this from a good friend who works for Mercury in Florida:
"Brunswick (Mercury Parent) has 29 boat building plants . . . . all of the Fiberglass plants are closed for the month of July. There were about 1,000 hourly laid off and 700 salary let go. I believe there are plans to reduce the salary count by another 1,000 before the end of 2009. Mercury is going to get caught up in this just because none of our sister boat companies are selling boats right now.
I heard a MAJOR multi-store Dealer on the West Coast filed Chapter 11 last Friday. It's just really bad with anything considered disposable income!!!" |
Member
Posts: 794
Location: Elgin, Illinois | I was nosing around on Boattrader.com and saw a listing for a new Lund Fiberglass at $63,000.00. If, and it looks like a big if, there will be a recovery it won't be led by sales of $63,000.00 Pro Boats. The industry is going to have to create and market efficient and reasonably priced products.
I was intrigued by the Mercury Vazer 100hp I/O. I saw an opportunity for a new line of boats that would appeal to a broad spectrum of users. Lower priced, more efficient, strictly a Not-High-Performance rig, but promising as fuel costs rise.
My friend just purchased a new Alumacraft with a 115hp 4 stroke. I've been in it now and must admit it has limitations but it is not an inadequate rig to fish from. But, it also was under $25,000.00, "new".
I caught a lot of fish while getting there in a 16' aluminum hull with a 40hp. I don't want to go back that far, but mid sized, mid powered, rigs designed to handle big water (not necessarily as well as a 20/21') should hold some promise.
I just sincerely hope we don't lose our boat industry. |
