Spader reports sales drop for smaller dealers

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – Large dealers are reporting on average that their total dealership sales for the first quarter are almost level with last year; but small dealers’ sales are down about 8 percent, according to the Spader Cos. report released yesterday.

The market research firm report tracks approximately 60 dealers in North America, dividing them into categories: those doing under $5 million in business at retail and those doing over $5 million.

Small dealers

New boat inventories for the average small dealer are up 5.2 percent, from $1,225,955 in the first quarter 2003 to $1,289,594 in the 2004 first quarter, while new boat sales are down 10.7 percent – from $431,436 in 2003 to $385,219 this year, according to Spader.

Used boat inventory for small dealers was up 1.8 percent to $108,472 from $106,537, but used boat sales dropped from $63,536 in 2003 to $42,938 for the first quarter 2004, a 32.4-percent decline.

The report also showed that net profit was -$51,567 and that profits are down 29.3 percent from the first quarter 2003.

Spader reported that the total gross margin percent for smaller dealers increased .8 percentage points from a year ago to 29.8 percent, while total unit margin percent is up 1.3 percentage points to 19.3 percent compared to 2003.

Spending is up slightly in terms of dollars but as a percentage of gross margin, it is up over 10 percentage points.

Large dealers

New boat inventories for the average large dealer were down 9.9 percent from $3,705,378 in 2003 to $3,339,451 in 2004, while used boat inventories were up 22.7 percent from $400,558 in 2003 to $491,526 in 2004, according to Spader.

New boat sales were nearly level with 2003, up $0.5 percent to $1,608,665 from $1,600,198, while used boat sales jumped 22.6 percent, from $205,557 in 2003 to $252,076 in 2004.

The market research firm reported that net profit was down 9.5 percent to $46,457 or 2.0 percent of sales for the quarter.

Total gross margin was 27.8 percent, down .9 percentage points from last year, while spending in terms of dollars decreased during 2004, but as a percentage of gross margin is level to up slightly, according to Spader.

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