Genmar targets entry-level fishing boat market
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – Boat builder Genmar Holdings Inc. has designed a new line of VEC Technology entry-level fishing boats for the 2005 model year, which Chairman Irwin L. Jacobs believes will allow the company to lead this sector of the market within 12 to 18 months, he stated in a recent letter to Genmar dealers.
The new line will be built at the company’s VEC Technology plant in Little Falls, Minn., and the boats will be marketed under the Aquasport, Glastron, Hydra Sports, Seaswirl and Wellcraft brands, according to Jacobs. He added that he expects them to compete with boats from Trophy, Sea Fox, Carolina Skiff and “several other low-cost regional boat builders.”
“These new entry-level VEC Technology fishing boats will be superior in quality to our competitors’ products and provide the boat buying consumer a substantially better warranty,” he wrote. “These VEC boats will also offer more competitive prices than consumers are presently paying for boats produced by competing brands.”
Genmar plans to finalize its production capacity, create new tooling and establish the dealer distribution system for the products over the next 6 to 8 months, he wrote.
Jacobs also stated in the letter that Genmar will be in commercial production with its VEC Shield boat, unveiled at the National Plastics Exposition in Chicago in June, by the middle of next year.
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