Sea Ray shutting down larger boats operations

Met a man at dinner last night who mentioned that. I hadn't heard till then. It seems that "big money" is leapfrogging the SR line on the way to things like that Lazzara, and the up-and-comers want something else. You've said this yourself, that the pocket cruiser market has shifted to big center consoles. It'll be interesting to see what SR comes up with, maybe I should say what Mama Brunswick lets them come up with. Personally, I think popularity will fall off as long as MerC power is the only choice, be it I/O or O/B
 
That would assume their other plants have the capacity to build anything else. I always thought express cruisers were useless except for weekend trips. Many of the larger yachts including Princess don't even have a stove on them.

It seems like the old ploy that AMF used on Harley. Profits fell off so they gave it up instead of looking for a solution.
 
I think there designs are horrible. They don't look like a boat anymore. Too square.IMHO
 
They re not just dropping the larger expresses but also all the flybridge boats
 
The flys don't appeal to me at all. The lines are all off. The Fly 460 has a bridge that looks like an after thought.
 
I looked that the total US yacht sales for 2017. Out of ALL brands only a little over 800 were sold for the entire year and only 81 in December 2017. YOY is down 6.4% Cannot stay in business with those low numbers.
 
GreatEscape,

I think I'm looking at the same report as you. The yachts you mention are 41' to 65'. Its interesting that December 2017 was well about the 49 for 2016, while as you noted on a whole was down 6.4% YoY. The 66'+ (not what Searay was building) was up 11%.

Link to report below, it notes that the report covers 59% of the market, so, actual sales are ~80% higher.

https://www.tradeonlytoday.com/indu...gid=ci021f37950000265b&pid=soundings-dec-2017
 
From a styling standpoint, I believe Searay always designed the boat from the inside - out.

They tried to appeal to the buyers wife, who was more concerned with the inside than the outside.

Problem is that when folks are out on the boat, (dockqueens being the exception) they typically spend their time outside that cabin area.

The profile of a new boat buyer today has changed dramatically. Additionally, as the build costs increased for 28-40 footers and outboards improved to unbelievable levels of efficiency and reliability, the products evolved.

Sea Ray missed the evolution and continued to produce irrelevant designs.

DOOM !

RWS
 
quote:
Originally posted by HappyKamper

I think there designs are horrible. They don't look like a boat anymore. Too square.IMHO

Click to expand...


U nailed it . They picked the wrong demographic to build around . They ignored the true boaters and went off on a tangent. They completely lost their way .
 
The very first sentence in the article mentioned Meridian, but the rest of the article was only about Sea Ray with no further mention of Meridian. Are they both made in the same facilities?
 
I know a guy who is a supplier. He says they most likely are going to sell to Azimut.

As far as boats go millennial are not buying. They are preferring fractional ownership or clubs.

We see the same thing in airplanes.
 
I think the prices jumped too much in the last several years paving the way for potential buyers to consider other brands, and the styling of their current models is an acquired taste.
Honestly, during my last few trips to the NY Boat Show, as much as I love the previous styles, the current Sea Rays were among my least favorite boats.
Both left them missing the boat in a recovering economy.
 
quote:
Originally posted by j-d

Met a man at dinner last night who mentioned that. I hadn't heard till then. It seems that "big money" is leapfrogging the SR line on the way to things like that Lazzara, and the up-and-comers want something else. You've said this yourself, that the pocket cruiser market has shifted to big center consoles. It'll be interesting to see what SR comes up with, maybe I should say what Mama Brunswick lets them come up with. Personally, I think popularity will fall off as long as MerC power is the only choice, be it I/O or O/B

Click to expand...


Brunswick won't have much of anything to say about Sea Ray pretty soon. Last December they announced their decision to sell off Sea Ray.
 
quote:
Originally posted by b_arrington

quote:
Originally posted by j-d

Met a man at dinner last night who mentioned that. I hadn't heard till then. It seems that "big money" is leapfrogging the SR line on the way to things like that Lazzara, and the up-and-comers want something else. You've said this yourself, that the pocket cruiser market has shifted to big center consoles. It'll be interesting to see what SR comes up with, maybe I should say what Mama Brunswick lets them come up with. Personally, I think popularity will fall off as long as MerC power is the only choice, be it I/O or O/B

Click to expand...


Brunswick won't have much of anything to say about Sea Ray pretty soon. Last December they announced their decision to sell off Sea Ray.

Click to expand...


Click on link to article in first post of this thread.
 
quote:
Originally posted by b_arrington

quote:
Originally posted by j-d

Met a man at dinner last night who mentioned that. I hadn't heard till then. It seems that "big money" is leapfrogging the SR line on the way to things like that Lazzara, and the up-and-comers want something else. You've said this yourself, that the pocket cruiser market has shifted to big center consoles. It'll be interesting to see what SR comes up with, maybe I should say what Mama Brunswick lets them come up with. Personally, I think popularity will fall off as long as MerC power is the only choice, be it I/O or O/B

Click to expand...


Brunswick won't have much of anything to say about Sea Ray pretty soon. Last December they announced their decision to sell off Sea Ray.

Click to expand...


They are keeping it. In lieu of selling they are getting out of yachts.
 
quote:
Originally posted by cwms

The very first sentence in the article mentioned Meridian, but the rest of the article was only about Sea Ray with no further mention of Meridian. Are they both made in the same facilities?

Click to expand...

The short-lived 541 was built at the Merrit Island plant early in this decade. The last two Meridian models, the 391 and 441 were built at Palm Coast. They quietly stopped building them a couple of years ago. Even though it wasn't said directly, this is actually the closest Brunswick has come to copping to the end of Meridian as there was never a formal announcement of the brand's discontinuation.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top