Todays makers of Champion, Ranger, and Stratos boats, Genmar Corp, Filed for Chapter 11 Bankrupcy.

[SPARKY101]

http://www.genmar.com/pr/pr.cfm/id/274

Seen this somewhere else:-"

[swedefish4life1]

Many more will fall:-$ and sooner then later supporting custom Planter boxes:colors:

Its will get worse in the Marine Industry:-$ before a turn for the better:-#

[SPARKY101]

Hey swede, Do you think it will bring the value down on boats for sale or not really.Im in the hunting stage looking for good deal on something that fits my needs"dropping the can lookin for glass"..Just wondering if the price on new will drop at some outlets or if they would be willing to barter more in a couple months after this is done..Maybe im just livin in a dream world and they will still be $$$$$$$$$$$$.00

[swedefish4life1]

Heck yes in some builds and support up to 50 percent.

Its being with the right contacts and current information when the hammer falls:-$ but buy better and less$:money:

[wolverine]

Genmar is just the last (so far) in running into the wall on boat sales and manufacturing. What Irwin was really saying was that their dealer group has ran out of flooring money to fund their inventories. The dealers are plugged with new boats, the Genmar plants are plugged with new boats. A tremendous amount of money is tied up in inventory that is not selling to the retail customer. Most dealers still have 07, 08, 09, as well as 10 boats in their inventories. In the boat biz model changeover starts in Feb so a dealer could have 4 model years of "new" boats in their inventory. Could they cut deals on the non current model years? Sure, but with the flooring expenses incurred since they got these boats they would take a severe financial hit by dumping them. I spent nearly 23 years in the boat mfg biz and have seen several blood baths over that time. However none had the depth and length of this one. No one wants to incur any financial hits but this recession (depression in the boat & RV biz) has put all the big players on their knees. The only boat builders that are doing OK are the small custom builders that only build a handful of one mans very expensive dreamboats a year, and the builders that are building boats for the government entities. ACB in Bellingham is an example of a company with a large backlog of government orders.
All that said above and what will it do for someone who wants to buy a boat today? Not much. A good example is the folks who got carried away at the North River auctions and actually paid more than if they had bought months earlier and bought as is, where is, with no warranty. Will prices come down? Yes, but not until fall when the summer boating season is over. There will be more bankruptcy sales as time goes by and its up to the underwriting banks to decide how much of a hit they will take as they basically own all the dealer and mfg inventories. That's pretty much the state of the industry in a nutshell.
Used boats are another story. Owners that are trying to sell are living in a dream world as far as the value of their product. I look at Craigslist periodically and am amazed at what people are asking for their used boats. I understand that most owners of late model boats are upside down on their loans (owe more than the boats worth) and the lending bank won't let them off the hook. You can't buy a car with zero down and 10-15-20 year financing, but its common in the boat biz. I see hopeful ads month after month on 20 year old boats that are priced at or above what they originally paid. Boats are not an appreciating asset. They depreciate just like cars and RV's. In buying a used boat the only real value is the engine. Why buy a 20 year old boat for 10 grand and have to put another 10 grand in it in a years time for new power? The boat hulls that have been built in the past 10 or so years are darn near indestructible whereas prior built have rotted from the inside out. Stringers, floors, and transoms have all rotted. Steel gas tanks have are rusted out, etc. Beware of the ads that say a slightly soft floor, or carb needs adjustment, etc. If the fix were easy and cheap the owner would have had it fixed and then put it on the market. 20+ years ago in the NW fishermen were lusting after GlasPly boats. Now they are no different from old Bayliners and Fiberforms as the inside wood has rotted out. Lots of big name boats on Craigslist that the owners that tried to fix the problems and have given up. OK off my soapbox and buyer beware.

[Gisteppo]

Wolverine, you took it out of the park on that one. Spot on man!

I think even Brunswick will be thinning down their operation substantially before its all said and done, losing a line or two of boats and streamlining things in the corporation.

Shame that so many manufacturing jobs are being lost, but consumption can only go so far.

Of course, another option is to build your own boat. You will generally be able to build for a cost savings over a new boat, but a used boat will normally be cheaper than building.

E

[tmusky1]

Wolverine, I agree with everything you stated above except for the ACB comment. Where did you hear about the large backlog of contracts?

[SPARKY101]

Great response wolverine appreciate your words