September sales decline
MIAMI — September was a bad month for the boat segments tracked by Info-Link Technologies Inc.’s Bellwether Report. The graphs can be viewed by clicking here: Info-Link Bellwether Report.
Losses tracked by the group had been decreasing steadily since summer 2009, when they reached their worst point of the recession. This summer, the results became more mixed: In June three segments improved and three segments ticked down, and the same was true in July and August. However, September saw decreases across the board.
Unit sales of powerboats 15 feet in length and above were down about 13 percent during the 12-month period ended Sept. 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 10 percent during the same period, while the sterndrive/jet boat segment sales were down about 30 percent, the personal watercraft segment was down about 15 percent, and the outboard sportfishing segment was down about 24 percent. In addition, the ski boat segment was down about 29 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.
- Can’t get enough boating news? Subscribe to our blog’s RSS feed, follow us on Twitter or look for “Boating Industry” on Facebook and LinkedIn.
- For more of the latest news, click here.
