Boat builders finding success abroad
SHEBOYGAN, Wis. – Sales of Wisconsin boat builder Cruisers Yachts are being buoyed by the strength of overseas markets amidst tough U.S. economic conditions, and it’s not alone, according to an article today in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
While about a third of Cruisers’ sales are currently made abroad, about 40 percent of Carver and Marquis yachts – boat building businesses owned by Genmar Holdings – are now sold overseas, according to the newspaper. And international sales are outpacing U.S. sales for yacht builder Palmer Johnson by about 10 to 1.
Among the areas where yacht sales are going strong are Poland and other Eastern European countries, developing countries like Venezuela where fuel is cheap and therefore boating is an inexpensive activity, and Singapore, which – one dealer told the newspaper – has plenty of disposable income for the taking.
However, boat sales are slowing in Western Europe and unsteady in Australia as economic conditions waver, the article suggested.
“There’s definitely going to be a slowdown. No doubt it’s coming,” Paul Stenton, a Cruisers dealer from Fremantle, Australia, told the newspaper.
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