Boat sales show mixed results in June
MIAMI — After months of improving sales trends, results in June were mixed for the boat segments tracked by Info-Link Technologies Inc.’s Bellwether Report. The graphs can be viewed at: info-link.com/bellwetherreport.asp.
Losses tracked by the group have been decreasing steadily since last summer, when they reached their worst point of the recession. However, in June three segments improved and three segments ticked down. Even in the improved segments, however, sales remain down from the previous 12 months.
Unit sales of powerboats 15 feet in length and above were down about 15 percent during the 12-month period ended June 30, compared to the previous 12 months. Last spring and into summer, sales were running about 35 percent down and in April they were 20 percent down.
Within the outboard boat segment, unit sales were down about 12 percent during the same period (up from 14 percent in May), while the sterndrive/jet boat segment sales were down about 23 percent (down from 22 percent in May), the personal watercraft segment was down about 15 percent (up from 16 percent in May), and the outboard sportfishing segment was down about 18 percent (down from 17 percent in May). In addition, the ski boat segment was down about 21 percent.
The Bellwether Report is based on new U.S. boat registrations in geographically dispersed states representing roughly half of the U.S. boat market.
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