Brp to exit sport boat market

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This is turning into an interesting debate.

Lets examine this "plastic bungy" cord that costs me (consumer) $35.00 to purchase. Raw material alone is probably negligible (i agree) but there is an engineer who has to design it, a machine has to be purchased to produce it, technicans need to be employed to support the machine and labourers required to run the machine. That's a big bill on its own ... now the company also has to rent/buy/build a warehouse to store this part along with a sku system that makes it easy for employees to locate and inventory system to manage it, all this stuff is freakin' super expensive. All this is so that when I want it I get this part I get it as soon as possible. And as biff put it, most dealers make their biggest profits off sales and service so of course theres a slice of the $35.00 in there for them aswell.

Not to mention that they take all the risk of the deal, the profit is a well deserved reward. If its not there, why would you take the risk?

It reminds me of when everyone was all pissed about exxon's huge profit... I laughed all the way to the corner of my block where I filled my car with the refined end product of million years old animal matter discovered miles underground, extracted out in the middle of nowhere, packaged, shipped, refined, packaged, shipped, pumped practically at my doorstep.... Exxon, you evil greedy bastards, how dare you make a profit!!!
 
As an owner of a 2010 210 Challenger, I can understand why they got out of the market. They couldn't keep up with other quality boats. I had a couple good Ski's from them in the past, but their boat quality / reliability left much to be desired.
 
As an owner of a 2010 210 Challenger, I can understand why they got out of the market. They couldn't keep up with other quality boats. I had a couple good Ski's from them in the past, but their boat quality / reliability left much to be desired.

Obviously you have/had issue with your boat and that sucks, but your post is just plain false.... simple as that. Seadoo boats are hard to come by now after the release of their statement. I have good friends in both sales and parts at a few BRP dealers in southern ontario and all their stock of seadoo boats are gone! And they had a lot of stock. The only real alternative now is yamaha ... until BRP sells their hull designs off (which are for sale and will sell). You will see seadoo boats again ... they will just have a different name on them.
 
Hey man you are entitled to your opionion i'm not going to argue that ... but my opinion is that brp did not exit the boat market because they weren't keeping up with other brands in the quality and/or performance department ...
 
I appreciate your recognition that we all have opinions. I never said anything about performance. My observation (opinion) was solely based on my past experience. Bottom line is they didn't sell enough boats to make it a profitable business. They decided to cut their losses and move on. As to why more folks didn't buy SeaDoo vs. Others, that's where we all have an opinion. I just wouldn't hold my breath for someone else to purchase designs that wouldn't sell in the consumer market without reengineering. Not a good formula for return on investment. I'm sure there are folks that really like their SeaDoo sport boats. But, not enough to keep the market alive.
 
Hi, I own a 2008 Speedster 150 SC, no problem so far, very reliable, but I´m looking for a bigger boat.
I was in the process to compare the 180 Challenger with the Yamaha AR190/192 when I read the bad news about Sea Doo Jet Boats going out of market.
Can you give me some advice or points of comparison between Yamaha and Sea Doo ?
Many thanks

Marco
 
MKP, If I were you, I would google (or other search engine) yamaha vs seadoo jet boats or something like that. You will get different opinions and different bias' as to which is better. So you need to take it all in knowing that everyone has an opinion and bias'. Some are SeaDoo and others are Yamaha die hards. Some have had good/bad experiences that taint their views. Good luck in your research. In the end it will get back to which one suits your needs at the right value. If you elect to go SeaDoo, you may want to be sure the 18' will be big enough. Otherwise you may want to look more at the 21' since SeaDoo won't be making them anymore.
 
SteveDoo,
Thanks for your help. I´ll do the search.
So far I´m happy with my Sea Doo Boat, very very reliable.
I was very sad when I read the bad news, but, such is life....

Best
 
I heard but not sure that glastron had the molds for seadoo boats up to the 18 foot models that's just what I was told by a parts rep for seadoo
 
Mexican manufacturing historically hasn't produced very good quality, not sure if i'd go with a machine made there.
 
I heard but not sure that glastron had the molds for seadoo boats up to the 18 foot models that's just what I was told by a parts rep for seadoo

My dealer told me there's a conference coming up in sept regarding the future of seadoo powered jet boats. Past seadoo boat dealers will get the option to carry the new line up which will most likely be made by Glastron.
 
BRP is in the process of shifting PWC manufacturing from Valcourt, Quebec, to a new plant in Juarez, Mexico. The process, which will take two to three years, will lower base production costs, according to Leduc.

Lower production costs indeed. I am in the car business, you should see the paint job problems on the Hondas coming out of Mexico-terrible. Pffft, Juarez is the "kidnapping capitol of the world" supposedly.
 
Mexican manufacturing historically hasn't produced very good quality, not sure if i'd go with a machine made there.
BRP has been making Can-am atv's there for years, have never seen any quality issues with anything manufactured there, more and more automotive companies are moving production there for the same reasons, tax shelters!
 
I work at a Cadillac dealership, the Cadillac SRX's are made in Mexico, there have been no significant defects in these cars, in fact less quality control problems than the ones made in Detroit.

Lou
 
Someone mentioned SeaRay getting into the jetboat market, they have pulled the plug on that venture, press release below.

— Reagan Haynes

http://www.tradeonlytoday.com/home/5...jetboat-market



Sea Ray decided not to enter the jetboat market because of the “unacceptable quality, reliability and durability of the propulsion systems” in prototype boats.

“The primary and by far most significant reason Sea Ray decided not to enter the jetboat market was the reason given in the written statement — the unacceptable quality, reliability and durability of the propulsion systems in our prototype boats,” marketing vice president Matt Guilford told Trade Only Today.

The company did not mention its supplier by name, but has said in the past that German engineering company Weber Motors would provide the jet propulsion for the endeavor first announced in 2012. Weber did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Guilford said other reasons, such as BRP’s decision to sell its jet propulsion systems to at least two boatbuilders after exiting the boatbuilding business itself, were secondary considerations at best.

“Obviously the landscape changed significantly” since Sea Ray made its decision to enter the segment, Guilford said. “When we started the project we knew BRP was leaving the industry and at the time had made its jetboat business for sale, so that part of the landscape changed. That played a role, but that certainly wasn’t the only reason. We said as clearly and as well as we could what the major component was in the release we put out.”

Guilford said the endeavor wasn’t a complete wash because while Sea Ray was doing market research for the project the builder gained insights into consumer tastes and preferences in the 25-foot-and-under recreational day boat segment — an area the company has said it plans to aggressively pursue in both the sterndrive and outboard configurations.

“For Sea Ray, there were enormous insights we got into consumer tastes and preferences in the recreational day boat segment, and that helped our understanding of what consumers are looking for in the 25-foot-and-under category,” Guilford said.

“Even though we are not pursuing the jetboat business I think the insights we got are going to increase our competitiveness in that category. It wasn’t a waste,” he said. “As we got to the end of this thing we were able to say, ‘That’s not the right path for us,’ but it has illuminated other market opportunities. We’re not coming out with jetboats, but we are laser-focused on delivering highly competitive sportboats.”
 
Personally I think the reason(s) SeaRay is backing out of the jet boat market are two fold.

SeaRay, Boston Whaler, Bayliner, Lowes, along with several other large scale boat makers are owned by Brunswick Corp., Brunswick Corp. also owns Mercury Marine, it doesn't make a lot of business sense not to power their boats with anything except Mercury power.

And, I may get into a lot of trouble for this, also let me preface this by saying that I have never owned a 4-tek SeaDoo product. I have owned and currently own Mercury products, a 4-stroke outboard, and a stern drive, and I would have to say the reliability and serviceability, factor on Mercury products, far exceeds that of Rotax.

I know I'm going to get a lot of flak over this, so before I put myself in exile and ban myself, remember this is just my opinion, and like a-holes everybody's got one.

Lou
 
I will say that I don't think it was the reliability issue, that was just their excuse IMO. Refresh my memory on how many companies were to start offering boats powered by the BRP drive package? Why go to bat with 3 other boat Mfg's with the same drive package, I'l bet that was a big reason.
 
I will say that I don't think it was the reliability issue, that was just their excuse IMO. Refresh my memory on how many companies were to start offering boats powered by the BRP drive package? Why go to bat with 3 other boat Mfg's with the same drive package, I'l bet that was a big reason.

Yep, at least three others, I've lost count.

Lou
 
Merc makes some pretty good products. I would agree with Lou in that it makes sense for a company to use their own product or product from a company they own.

It all comes down to money.
 
Seadoo might be gone, but it looks like their engines are coming back to the boat market. Just got this from boat test reports this morning. Chaparral has come out with a 203 jetboat powered by a 250hp super charged Rotax engine. http://www.boattest.com/boats/boat_video.aspx?ID=3167

If you look at the link IT IS A SEADOO! Lol.. Look at the instrument panel, the buttons everything, the hull design down to the pump.. It's all seadoo with a different name :)
 
The left over new ones went down in price and the used did for the little bit, but when people find out you can still gets parts you will be ok. I don't see an issues but I do see non seadoo dealers making money off people getting scared and dumping thier boats.
 
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