Marine dealers wrapped up May saying they had to be aggressive and work with consumers in what has become a buyer’s market. High inventory, slow sales and challenging interest rates were all working against recreational boat retailers.
“Being very aggressive and discounting heavily when working deals,” one dealer said in response to the monthly Pulse Report survey. “It has become a buyer’s market, and consumers know that dealers are heavy with inventory, resulting in discounts to move units. OEM promos are generating traffic, but for lowball pricing and deals only.”
Another dealer said: “Financing interest rates are still high. Smaller boats being affected by rates.”
For this month’s Pulse Report, Soundings Trade Only, Baird Research and the Marine Retailers Association of the Americas surveyed 86 marine dealers about managing inventory, what boats they think will be in demand for 2025 and how they plan to get through the summer of 2024.
Marine retailer sentiment was down by a point to 32 in May from April’s 33, while the three-to-five-year outlook declined from 35 in April to 29 in May. A neutral outlook is 50.
Dealers reported new-boat sales declines of 47% in May compared to 29% in April. For used boats, 38% of respondents reported growth while 40% said sales were down. May typically represents 16% of annual retail sales.
New-boat inventory remained higher than dealers would prefer, with 90% saying they had too many units in stock while only 5% wished they had more boats on the lot. For used boats, 44% of respondents said inventory was too high while 25% said it was too low.
“Continuing to monitor inventory, cutting back on what’s not moving,” one dealer wrote. “Discontinuing old. Bringing in new in low quantities.”
Manufacturers who were willing to help dealers in the background made the difference in getting some deals done. “With a lot working against us, the OEM promotions and willingness to help deals on the back end has been effective,” a dealer stated.
Many experienced dealers continued to say that putting in extra effort helped to close deals and keep the company’s doors open. “Discounts, specials, anything that is getting them through the door has helped,” one retailer wrote. “Making sure that we take the time to listen to the new or upcoming boatowners on what they are actually looking for when purchasing. Being able to talk to someone on the weekend when they have a problem or just the ease of being able to drop off the boat to be worked on.”
Forecasting for the 2025 model year, 32% of dealers said they expected pontoon boats to have the strongest demand, followed by saltwater fishing models at 25% and aluminum fish at 15%.
Also looking ahead, dealers were doing their best to unload stagnant inventory to make room for 2025 models. “Rebates, rate programs and vendor discounts along with dealer discounts have helped clear the way to be in a better position for 2025 ordering,” one dealer responded. “Still a long way to go.”
This article was originally published in the July 2024 issue.
