Sea-Ray company being sold

Willhound

And possibly going for good..
Details at
http://www.boattest.com/view-news/5617_sea-ray-boat-company-for-sale

rasbury

Wow, that does not bode well for the boat industry...I had no idea Brunswick owned so many brands including Mercury. Also, had no idea their sales as well as all the boat builders sales were as low as they are. It is an expensive "hobby"  and with a shrinking middle class in this country likely these companies will continue to fall by the wayside. Sad for them, sad for us and very sad for the state of this country. I wish I thought it was getting better but it is not. At least not for most of us.

Dream_Inn

Wow, definitely and interesting article.  I'm guessing more people are buying the cheaper brands such as Bayliner.  It is really sad that the younger generations just aren't buying the boats as much (BoatUS had a good article on this).

J3ff

So when's the fire sale?

Cableguy Greg

I was surprised as well to see them wanting to let Sea Ray go. I can understand it because Sea Ray and Meridian build some big boats. It is easier and cheaper to build a runabout or deck boat. I don't think people are spending money on big new boats the way that they did before the crash of 2007. In my area, Sea Ray is still big as far as sales go. The local dealer is the only real player in the cruiser segment since the Rinker dealer isn't here anymore. If I only had an investor... I would jump on the opportunity to open a Rinker dealership.

Stodge

I've never considered buying a SeaRay due to the artificial 20% markup for the name.  They make a good boat, but they sell for more than they should be worth IMO.

Willhound

J3ff said:

So when's the fire sale?

Likely won't happen. I suspect that as with most manufacturer's these days they're not building big boats on spec. They'll base production for the coming year on feedback and orders from boat shows over the winter. Whatever might be in stock was likely built last season and will go to any of the dealers willing to take them.
Probably not a big back inventory on completed boats.

MarkB

Surely the projected sales for 2017 is more than $380,000, as indicated in the article. That's like 1 to 2 boats!

rasbury

I think that was a typo..probably dropped a few zeros there or perhaps if that is the dumb dumb making the decisions, we know why they are selling!

Ian

I agree with @Stodge, they are nice but overpriced. And don’t seem immune to the issues most see in other brands. 

randy56

The article  tells us how slow a boat market we have and why Rinker has struggled.
Agreeing with stodge, they always seem to be way over priced. I had a 24 ft SR OV it was a good boat. 

reneechris14

The article states it is selling SR and no mention of the buyer? And I must agree that get are over priced. 

reneechris14

I never understood the price of boat anyway.
19' =20,000 to 40,000
24' =40,000 to 80,000
27 =170,000 to 240,000
34 = 300,000 to 500,000
You put 19' boat together that 40k 2motors and 2 steering wheels.

LaRea

Sea Ray won't go away in my lifetime.  Few makes have name recognition outside of the boating community, but Sea Ray is one of them.  

@reneechris14 -- It's probably better to think not of LOA, but cubic feet of boat!    

Michael T

Many financial analysts (discussions for the past year on CNBC and @Jim Cramer, for example) have stated that Amazon and the like have seared price point into the sub-conscience of buyers. If that is correct, the Sea Ray news could be a big boost for Rinker. Sea Ray has dropped from 30,000 units sold per year to less than 3,000. Few companies - particularly with high production costs and sales points - can survive that. Look at what has happened to many companies considered too big to fail. As the former C.E.O. of Home Depot said innovate or evaporate....and price is Ace, King and Queen. I wouldn't be surprised to see Regal next - another imo - expensive boat.

BTW if  Sea Ray was purchased in 1986 for 350 million selling 30,000 boats per year what do you think some one will offer for it now at 3000 boats per year.......35 million? Less than that? Heck of a loss imo!

[Deleted User]

Brunswick's Boston Whaler brand appears to be doing well in these parts, a dealer has his office right next to my dock. The 420 Outrage center console models I'm seeing have FOUR 350hp outboards. 1400hp, WOW!

Andy

Glassguy54

Warren Buffet was on CBS Sunday Morning and mentioned he was not happy about how wealth has been distributed in the past 30 years. At that time the Forbes 400 had a net worth of 92 Billion dollars. Today the Forbes 400 has a net worth of 2.4 Trillion!!!! A 25x increase. Warren says wealth is not trickling down to the middle class but instead GUSHING UP to the top 4%, so that makes it much more difficult for the average person to own and operate pleasure boats and other so called luxuries.
With this new tax plan the next sound you hear will be the roar of a geyser of wealth gushing up to the top yet again. According to Warren, US Corporations are flush with cash and profitability, interest rates are at historic lows and yet the middle class continues to be squeezed. $1,200.00 in tax relief for a family of four??? Are you kidding me? What a joke, a cruel joke!

rasbury

I'm with you Glass- when these companies have no one to sell there stuff to because consumers have no money, maybe they will figure it out. Florida is a horrible to place to earn a living wage- we have so many 10.00 per hour jobs at theme parks and such- Disney is trying to squash a .50 per hour raise for employees now- I understand everyone can't make 25 bucks per hour. But, at the theme parks, there is little to no transit system for them to get to work, places to live for a shoe box are just stupid- no one wants to provide any assistance for health care or rental help so that businesses can enjoy the cheap labor. This tax plan is joke for the middle class and depending on the final bill, even worse for the poor.  We have the largest economy in the world and it is just not fair that any business, whether it is a foreign business or a US business can make their fortunes in this country and pay little to no taxes. We have seen that trickle down economics just does not work. On the news this am, senate is looking at cutting Social Security and Medicaid to try to pay for this over 1 trillion dollar tax cut. Can't wait to see how that goes with the folks that put this administration and congress in place. This idea of no big deal of increasing the national debt to spur the economy sounds like the tax plan of the last administration- just a difference of who has to pay for it- The real tax rate paid for by businesses has been less than 20% in recent years. The argument that we have to lower business taxes so they can compete in the world market is just crap. They have been paying comparable or less taxes than in other modern countries. 60 years ago, businesses contributed 30% of profit and I understand any business wanting to improve the bottom line for their stock holders and their owners but when they pay less than the average middle class earner, something is wrong with the system. And it is now only going to get worse.

Getting off my soap box, sorry but I'm very concerned about my future.

davidbrooks

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaagh.  My friendly boat forum is getting into finances and economy.  Danger, Danger.  Can we go back to just giving @Handymans342
a hard time or should we tackle politics and religion also?

randy56

Your right, it's just on everyone's mind, found picture of Handy's new camper, see it on Joke of the day. 

rasbury

Sorry...just all ties in. Things could be worse..

JoeStang

Ok guys back on topic. Sea Ray boats in these pics. 

earl1z19

Reading  the article it states they they anticipate the sale being finalized in the 1st half of 2018 but yet have no prospects. Unless they are just going through the process and not disclosing the buyer just yet. The article also states they build 20,000 boats a year. down from 78,000 boats back in the 90's.

Willhound

JoeStang said:

Ok guys back on topic. Sea Ray boats in these pics. 

Nice BOOT........I mean...BOATS!

trip_n

what about the cost of these new boats .... 75k for a bow rider ... 150k  for a small express w/o generator ..... sales have to be down ... and o yea 50/75k for a tow truck ....  

rasbury

I'm with you- I don't see anyone spending 80 grand for a bow rider to ride around the lake on- now some are set up nice for day relaxing with grills and nice eating areas etc. but no protection from the weather and you sure can't sleep on it. There must be a small segment of folks with a lot of money to burn.  Sometimes I think Ford makes the same mistakes talking to these "focus groups" about what they want to see available in vehicles- but when it hits the market and no one can afford it, then everyone is scratching there heads wondering why! It all sounds great until you see the cost. They never ask if these people could afford to buy it.

Handymans342

Ras, would you spend 100G on the new Shelby F150?

Stodge

@rasbury Those bowriders are popular in California where day boating is more popular.  I think it's the same thinking that put a porti-pottie in center consoles.  Make it so you can spend more than a couple hours on the boat.

wheatst

The Sea Ray announcement was a surprise for sure.  Rinker is busy investing in new models.  We have some good stuff planned for 2018....more later.

zaverin1

Market is already shifting to toons and day boats here in Michigan 

raybo3

In all honestly who gives a rat's a$$ about SeaRay? IMO the most overrated and overpriced boat on the market. Decent boat but thats it, its just decent nothing special but its specially priced....... Just say'n