Elan boats? ever heard of them? will they go under

What up guys,
I'm in my last semester of college and am in this 400 level strategic managment class and I goota do this case analysis for an end of the yr presentation and paper blah blah, but it just happens one of the cases is on elan ski boats tryin to make it back into the market. they are making three boats (straight performance ski, wakeboard, and some other runabout. Thhey are all direct drive. check out the wakeboard one : http://www.elanboats.com/eagleair.htm

The whole case is about the rise of wakeboarding and the downfall of slalom skiing. It gives statistics about how much it has decreased sine 90 and how riding is waaaaaay up.

I think the boat is not nearly tech enough but i'm only 22 and like bling just not excessive. It is also direct drive and very light. I have to present whether or not this company will make it. help

wtf come on guys for real

these dude s are really tryin to compete

Why is the ad copywrite 2002?
And whoever wrote that ad copy should be chained to the anchor.

they think they hhave a market edge but water skiing is on the downfall at least at a progressive level.
people want versatility, comfort, and cutting edge technology.

aight its obvious you guys would rather discuss what board some newb should get or what bindings are the best or help me get a new rider up thread for the billionth damn time then talk about somethin new and helpful.

I think you have answered alot of your questions. This page http://www.elanboats.com/elanfaq.htm answers many of the questions for the basis of the paper ie Our business model: We purchased the company for a steal and eliminated the biggest barrier to entry into the market, the start up cost of R&D, tooling, molds, equipment and facilities. Most importantly, I own the company outright. We have no debt financing; therefore no one can put us out of business. This gives us the strength to weather any bad economy and other hiccups that can occur with start up firms. We will manage our production, inventory and staffing to meet demand and stay profitable.

I agree with you they don't weigh enough I think they need to change the boats a little bit. Wish I knew the price range they were going for it would help with the analysis. Just go through a SWOT analysis

Strenths: low start up cost
Weaknesses: technology not as competitive
Opportunities: ?
Threats: ?

I hope this helps a little I know these papers are a pain in the rear.

No they are not going to make it. the big money is wakeboarding and accessories. You can't make it with a DD boat.

Ringo,
I would say that the company will have a hell of time competing in the WB market. The costs of entering an established market base is high. They would need a definate competitive edge, and I don't see what it would be looking at their boats. If they can somehow keep the manufacturing costs at a minimum, still create a quaility product and price it well below market averages then they might have a chance. I would not focus any attention to the ski boat side. That will produce excess R&d costs that will be realized by the customer. HTH.

You have identified 3 market segments. Look at the trends in the market place and see what segment you would like to focus on (where are the $'s made). Lets say forget skiboats and look at wakeboarding. Analyze your competition in that segment. What do buyers look for in a Wakeboard boat. Most like v-drive. They need to develop one for their product line. Also talk marketing and getting their name out. I Wakeboard and own a boat and have never heard of elan.

I reread the post and you need to decide whether they will make it or not. I wouldn't invest in them. Barriers to enter the market are too many. strong competition. no name boat I have never heard of. Wakeboard model is a direct drive.

The company was bought from the bankrupt company American Skier which has been around for a long time. supposedly it was the 3rd producer of an inboard ever and have had strong following in the slalom areas for years.

Ringo,
They may have been the 3rd producer, but who cares? In a market that is experiencing declining sales, people are going to stick with the boats that they know perform ie MC, BU, and Nautys. It sounds like you want them to do well. IT is YOUR presentation. You need to make the case in either direction you decide. Why don't you post your thoughts on the company, and we will try to dispute them. That way you will be ready in class.

"aight its obvious you guys would rather discuss what board..."

Elan isn't a wakeboard boat company. That might explain that lack of enthusiasm for this discussion.

Putting a tower on a slalom boat is the extent of their innovation, and it isn't very innovative. Which is funny because they prominently talk about innovation on their web site. There's a word to describe that, but ironically it doesn't come to me.

hey i'm not defending this company at all. All I know is that I get some damn good advice and insight about things that I would have never thought about before from people on this site. You are right they are not a wakeboard company but either are the industry leaders such as bu,cc, mc because they all got their start in skiing. This case is 20 something pages long as very in depth but what they fail to do is give an accurate report of what the increasing trend is moving towards since 2002. The textbook was printed in 02 so they don't have as much knowledge as to what is going on now. It says that they (elan) have a competitive advantage bc:
mastercraft: has high overhead costs due to r&d, sponsorship, advertising, and over employment.
CC: Is a Stodgy company slow to change. -hell if its not broke don't fix it is how I see it.

Hey just so you guys know there is a wakeboard specific elan. It's the eagle. They had it at the Seattle boat show a couple years ago. A board shop in Lakewood has it and thy're trying to sell it. It is a v-drive and the platform doubles as a ballast tank. I dont know much more about the boat as I looked for a short time at it. Went with a name I was familiar with.

Product - doesn't seem that good for a wakeboard boat. Direct drive, low weight
Price.positioning - It looks like they are going for about 30k. If they aren't producing a boat for the everyday wakeboard (v-drive, heavy), they will probably have to complete with i/os on price to get the weekend buyers interested in the boat. Then they have to deal with the size constraints of d-drive.
Promotion - have never heard of or seen this boat before. Have they been to shows? What is their promotion plan. Their website seems to be a lot of inspirational phrases about teamwork, innovation and performance, but doesn't show how the boat actually performs.
Place - There are only 6 dealers and they don't seem to carry a lot of boats. One dealer even notes no windshields for the boats yet. At least they seem to have dealers in every region except the Southwest.
Overall I think they have a lot of work to do, and would wait to see on them

First off Id like to say that the water skiing industry is outselling the wakeboarding industry. The Pro Tour prize money involved in professional waterskiing far exceeds the wakeboarding industry to date.

Secondly, I have ridden behind that boat in Orlando. I liked the ballast tank/swim step but the shape of the wake was not one of my favorites. Charley Patterson was involved in the designing of a V drive in early 2002 when American skiier was acquired and Elan was born. But CP backed out of his sponsorship and went back to Tige'. As for the production of a V Drive? I think that idea died back in early 2003.

This is funny, on their website on the bottom is a picture I took of the boat on Lake Sammamish, WA. Charley is in the picture to the right of it. That should tell you how long it's been since they've updated their website. Are they still in production?

They sell them through West Marine, there has been one up in front of the store near my house for a year. It is pretty spartan. It does have a Boss tower, snap out carpet. The waketank thing has pumps in it, controlled from the dash. They want about 42k with trailer. You can get a nice Supra Vdrive for that much, they won't make it. The Elan Eagle I have seen is a V drive.

thanx guys this is alll very informative for me

I've never seen their wakeboard boat have been in their ski boats a few times. The overall quality of the boat was pretty low. Cheap materials inside which weren't installed very well. The best thing I can say about the boat was that it had a hell of a engine and alot of the jumpers liked the strong pull it gave. Besides that though, there wasn't much else to the boat. Overall price range was towards the bottom of the market, priced below Centurion.