Articles
   
       
Pics/Video
       
Wake 101
   
       
       
Shop
Search
 
 
 
 
 
Home   Articles   Pics/Video   Gear   Wake 101   Events   Community   Forums   Classifieds   Contests   Shop   Search
WakeWorld Home
Email Password
Go Back   WakeWorld > Boats, Accessories & Tow Vehicles

Share 
Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old     (outrecbrian)      Join Date: Jul 2013       07-08-2013, 2:34 PM Reply   
I was recently hired on at a huge RV dealership to start up the Marine side of the business for them. I have 8 years of selling MC and Moomba's.

Now my question to you is what line should I try to take on?

This area has MC, Nautique, Moomba and Centurion dealers.

Malibu and Axis are within 100 miles.

I have already spoken with Supra and Tige, is there a line you guys think I should also look into?

Neither Supra and/or Tige have ever been in this region.

Thanks in advance

Brian
Old    TN22            07-08-2013, 2:54 PM Reply   
I would lean towards SC and Supra. Great people to deal with. Privately owned too
Old     (outrecbrian)      Join Date: Jul 2013       07-08-2013, 2:55 PM Reply   
They are my first choice. The 8 years with Moomba helped with that, and yes they are great to work with.
Old     (polarbill)      Join Date: Jun 2003       07-08-2013, 2:58 PM Reply   
I would look at Supra, especially if you can get moomba away from the other dealership in your area. Tige wouldn't be bad and MB might be a nice compliment to it.
Old     (outrecbrian)      Join Date: Jul 2013       07-08-2013, 3:06 PM Reply   
Getting Supra and Moomba would be the dream scenario. About a 15% chance of that happening... but you never know. I do really like the Tige boats and the rep has been really cool to deal with so far.

ALmost like I cant go wrong. (famous last words)
Old     (SkySki)      Join Date: Feb 2010       07-08-2013, 5:24 PM Reply   
Mb
Old     (kko13)      Join Date: Jul 2006       07-08-2013, 6:17 PM Reply   
Having worked at a Tige dealership I can tell you they are very nice to work with. We also handled another brand and they were not in the same ballpark when it came to getting things done like Tige. I would make sure you give them a chance to sit and talk with you. They have alot to offer.
Old     (outrecbrian)      Join Date: Jul 2013       07-09-2013, 6:22 AM Reply   
Absolutely going to give Tige a chance. I meet with them again in person next week. The hard part is finding a brand to go against Moomba's price point.
Old     (polarbill)      Join Date: Jun 2003       07-09-2013, 7:45 AM Reply   
Pick up MB to go with tige. my only concern with having both tige and mb is that there isn't a big enogh difference. I think mb might have just as good of a fit and finish if not better than tige. That said the tiges might be more comfortable and have more features than mb. I am sure that comment will stir up some crap.
Old     (outrecbrian)      Join Date: Jul 2013       07-09-2013, 8:04 AM Reply   
Anyone have any thoughts on Sanger? Price points I can find online look close to Moomba.
Old     (polarbill)      Join Date: Jun 2003       07-09-2013, 8:34 AM Reply   
I think Sanger would be a solid compliment to Tige. you could probably do a few V215's and V237's. I am not sure what they are currently selling for but I would expect a nicely equipped(triple ballast, PP, tower, racks, trim tab, base stereo, bimini, tandem trailer) V215 to be able to sell around 50k. They are nice boats that perform well although they have lower freeboard than most stuff these days. I would think you could sell similar equipped V237's for 60-65k.

If I was adding Sanger to a dealership that had Supra or Tige I would order the Sanger's moderately equipped and let the buyer add stuff like racks, nice stereo, heater(maybe a requirement in ND), bimini, rear ballast, PP, etc.. Those are all things that can be added after the fact. I like the idea of ordering them with base stereo(deck with 4 speakers), tower, center ballast, tandem trailer and hydraulic trim tab(This isn't totally needed but a great selling tool. You can adjust the wake right in front of the buyer and even though it isn't really making the wake bigger it appears that way. Also, it would be a lot harder to add after the fact.) This will keep the price down and let the buyer pick and choose what to add when buying or add after the fact.

You also have the option of ordering some V210's which I can't imagine sell for more than 40-45k with the above basic options.
Old     (boardman74)      Join Date: Jul 2012       07-09-2013, 9:05 AM Reply   
Being from the area I think both Sanger and MB will be a tough sell as they have zero presence and I have never seen either in the area. We have had a cabin outside Fergas Falls for 51 years now. Longer than I have been around. Not saying they are bad boats, as I know they are not. Inboards are a tough sell in the Fargo area because of price and a boat without name recognition will make that tougher IMO. I am surprised that Tige having a dealer in Family Marine not to far would want another dealer that close. Then Heinen's not much farther in the cities.

That area is a sink then swim market as I am sure you know. It's 75% resort/ cabin business and not locals. So business can be really good in the summer and really poor in the winter. Like I said I have been in that area my entire life and we started as skiers and now wakeboard/surf more. Have always owned inboards and been around the sport. I have seen just about every boardshop/skishop and inboard specific dealer fail in that area. They do ok the first summer and then dry up over the winter. Hopefully for you the RV side of the house can compensate for that. When jobs pay what they do in that area and you can buy a house in the 30K range its tough to be selling 100K boats. I can see your concern with having a value line. Not sure in you can tap into any of the fracking business but there isn't much for water west of you.

Shoot me a PM if I can help you out in anyway.
Old     (stephan)      Join Date: Nov 2002       07-09-2013, 9:59 AM Reply   
I think the first question is, would cruisers and pontoon boats be a better place to start? Or perhaps you will have all types of boat. I just know that there are a lot of people that don't want to spend $60k+ and a nice $20k Bayliner is the hot ticket.

When it comes to inboards I would say that Supra/Moomba or Malibu/Axis offer a great package. For one, you are getting two well known brands of different price point from the same builder. Two, you are getting one of the top builders with great reputations. If you could pry Moomba away from the other dealer, you would be in good shape.

As Brett said, Sanger is a great modestly priced option. It would be up to you to give them a presence in a new market and it could be tough. They really are a solid boat and if done right with demo days and test rides could sell you a lot of Sangers.
Old     (outrecbrian)      Join Date: Jul 2013       07-09-2013, 10:13 AM Reply   
The reason I took the job here was the amount of money the owner is willing to invest. At all times he has more than $8M in inventory on the lots. And no one in the area advertises more than this company. His favorite motto is "you have to spend money to make money".

They dominate the RV business in ND. Moving over 150 RV's a month has been the norm this year.

Once we get the line or lines set-up, the plan is for some major on the water shows and demo rides. We plan to bring in factory reps and riders and offer weekend instruction. This went over great at the last place I worked at and then they just stopped doing them. It was a big hit with customers but I was told it was to much hassle. My new boss actually had sent his kid to the schools and wants to bring all that back.

I think with the backing they are offering and in getting the right lines set-up things could really change for this market.
Old     (boardman74)      Join Date: Jul 2012       07-09-2013, 10:18 AM Reply   
Where did you sell before? Was it for the Moomba Dealer in Nisswa?
Old     (outrecbrian)      Join Date: Jul 2013       07-09-2013, 10:25 AM Reply   
Moomba and MC dealer in Fargo. Things have certainly changed there and not for the better. My new boss is much more customer service oriented.
Old     (espritv8)      Join Date: Dec 2009       07-14-2013, 1:07 AM Reply   
Bought two boats from Fineline (Supreme and Centurion), and loved them. The big plus for me are the engines, since Mercruiser dealers can be found anywhere and parts are easier to find and usually cheaper. Hull quality is apparently one of the best on the market, and my centurion throw a pretty good wake for wakeboarding ans surfing.
Old     (runin90lx)      Join Date: Sep 2009       07-14-2013, 7:38 AM Reply   
MB had no presence in tx up tii about 2 yrs ago. now they are taking over. texas mastercraft sells MC and MB, and im betting its close to 50/50 what they are selling. one demo in a MB is all it takes to sell them...awesome boats at a great price for all u get.
Old     (DatTexasBoy)      Join Date: Aug 2012       07-14-2013, 7:58 AM Reply   
I thought Supra and Moomba kind of went hand in hand? Didn't know you could sell Moomba without Supra.

The other way around I have seen. Just like Malibu without Axis, but not the other way around. We have a RV dealership 60miles down the road in Shreveport LA and they just did the same thing picking up Tige'. Their only downfall is they have no service dept.
Old     (99Bison)      Join Date: Sep 2012       07-14-2013, 9:52 AM Reply   
I live in FM area, I probably even talked to you a few times looking for boats.

Brian you already know the area better than most on here, ie...
- That area is basically 100% cabin business.
- Few people trailer wake boats weekly, at most they have them parked on a lot somewhere by their "spot."
- There is virtually no resort business.
- The only competition locally is Nautique and the MC/Moomba dealers.
- The season is short.
- Many wake boats out there today are for family show and some tubing. You don't see too many hard core riders out and about - but a few.
- Your buyers are probably Fergus Falls and North, beyond that south starts getting into MSP territory.
- Oil is so far west and there's not much water out there, so quantity probably isn't going to happen even though the cash to drop on boats is dripping out of peoples pockets.

IMO, Supra, Tige, Malibu/Axis and MB would have a shot here to do well - just like all 3 currently here do well (at least Moomba and MC I guess not sure about Nautique). Also given the advertising spent by your business a new brand would be a good fit.

The promotional events could do well for your branding and the market. I have been wanting those - I will definitely look forward to that - all of your ideas there are great - demo's, instruction, etc. Actually this would probably be a huge driver for you.

Personally I'd like to see a Supra/MB combo if you can make that work - maybe pitch the higher end/more loaded Supra's and lower end, less loaded MB's to spread the price range. The Malibu/Axis is tempting from a brand (Malibu) and value (Axis) standpoint, however I have no idea on working with those businesses.

Both of these situations you can pitch against Nautique and MC and then value vs. local Moomba. I think MB could do very well, ND mentality has some similarities to Texas .

Assuming you'll have a service department or at least plan to partner up with another dealer/marina?

And no, don't go into pontoons or fishing boats - everyone and their brother sells those... but you know that already.

Reply
Share 

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is On



All times are GMT -7. The time now is 6:06 PM.

Home   Articles   Pics/Video   Gear   Wake 101   Events   Community   Forums   Classifieds   Contests   Shop   Search
Wake World Home

 

© 2019 eWake, Inc.    
Advertise    |    Contact    |    Terms of Use    |    Privacy Policy    |    Report Abuse    |    Conduct    |    About Us