Yanmar Marine International has appointed experienced automotive service and business development manager Martijn Oggel as its global sales manager. Reporting directly to YMI Director of Sales and Marketing Floris Lettinga, Martijn will implement the company’s strategic directives in alignment with local offices and key distributors, further developing Yanmar’s leading market position in the global marine industry. The new role has ...

The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) recently issued its final decision in the antidumping and countervailing duty investigations into common alloy aluminum sheet from China, which affirmed the Trump administration’s 96.3 percent to 176.2 percent duties on the material. Leading up to the ITC’s action, the National Marine Manufacturers Association urged the government to remove all duties on aluminum sheet ...

With the mission of providing marine retailers with education, tools and resources to apply with in their businesses, Grow Boating Inc. has expanded its support of the 2018 Marine Dealer Conference & Expo. Through this educational partnership, attendees will have the chance to expand their learning experiences at MDCE through the Pre-Conference Workshops, the MRAA Special Presentation, and the MDCE ...

Only eight months after breaking ground, Mercury Marine has officially opened a new state-of-the-art expansion at its global headquarters in Fond du Lac. The two-story NVH (Noise, Vibration, Harshness) Technical Center adds close to 20,000 additional square feet to the more than 2.5 million square-foot campus. This $10 million investment to Mercury’s global headquarters gives the company the largest and ...

West Marine has hired retail executive Ken Seipel as the company’s new CEO. Seipel is an experienced leader with a strong track record helping grow privately held retail companies, as well as Fortune 500 brands. He was most recently CEO of Gabe’s and prior to that held executive positions with a wide range of retail organizations including Old Navy, Target ...

Since announcing its Surf Boss surfing pontoon in mid October, Minnesota-based Montara Boats has welcomed 27 dealers to its retail network and has more than 23 additional dealerships pending. Montara’s patent pending Surf Boss has struck a positive cord with boaters and retailers. Over 60,000 viewers read Montara’s introductory press release which was also a top industry story in October. ...

Overall marine dealer same-store sales decreased by 9 percent in November, according to the latest report from CDK Global Recreation. The monthly report is based on data from users of the company’s Lightspeed software. In October, overall sales increased by 5.1 percent. In November, overall sales decreased by 9 percent. Parts and service were down 3.1 percent and 1 percent, ...

A panel of distinguished boating leaders who serve as a sounding board for Boat Owners Association of The United States (BoatUS) gathered recently to discuss key issues impacting recreational boating, including the changing boat-ownership model and shifting boater demographics. BoatUS is the nation’s largest recreational boat owners group in the U.S. with more than a half-million dues-paying members. The group ...

The Recreational Boating & Fishing Foundation has announced a new fishing license and boat registration tool that’s available to all stakeholders. The tool is embeddable on stakeholder websites, bringing essential license and registration information straight to consumers. “For many consumers, the license and registration process can be intimidating,” said RBFF President and CEO Frank Peterson. “That’s why we created this ...

Groupe Beneteau recently announced its had completed the acquisition of Delphia Yachts. The company reports its Polish subsidiary Ostroda Yachts sp. z.o.o. will have 80 percent of the share capital, while Delphia Yachts will retain 20 percent. In July, Groupe Beneteau announced it had signed an agreement with Delphia to acquire its operations for sailing and motoryachts under the Delphia ...