Fluid Motion

[oscar]

As a division of Fluid Motion, LLC, manufacturer of the popular fleet of Ranger Tugs, Cutwater Boats offers complementary styling and performance, built to the same high standards of quality that have earned Fluid Motion a position of leadership etc etc

First off, beautiful boats, nicely made. I want one.

But, what they did about 3 moths ago is come out with "LE" (Limited Editions) of the Cutwaters. We're talking a base boat with about ten of the most popular options (say 20K worth) for thirty something large off.

Now there are dealers with demos of the "standard" model on the floor that they are massively upside down in, not to mention the private sellers that are trying to sell a two, three year old boat with a reasonable depreciation that are competing with a brand new one......

Why would a factory do this to their owners/dealers? I've heard five dealerships have told the manufacturer to go and (expletive deleted).

Does anyone have insight into THIS particular situation?

I'm shopping, and I want to figure this out before I get burnt.

 

[FF]

WE are in an era of Deflation , or Japan style flat lining , not inflation.

Happily that means your money buys more , not less.

Look at commodity prices , Isn't $2.00 gas a delight?

With most of the raw materials dropping in price the ability for a Mfg to lower prices is required to stay in the market.

Advances in boat assembly reduce the skilled labor required , another saving.

Mfg usually demand a 20% markup, as do most new boat dealers.

Perhaps the new normal (flat line at best) has scaled back their demands .

Sure its hard on existing boat owners that bought high , same as the house purchasers that bught at the peak.

This is to your advantage to purchase a new boat , and you can be sure some motivated sellers will accept the new normal and their prices will drop to market levels.

What to do?

SHOP wisely. Ca$h is KING!

 

[Pau Hana]

First off, beautiful boats, nicely made. I want one.

But, what they did about 3 moths ago is come out with "LE" (Limited Editions) of the Cutwaters. We're talking a base boat with about ten of the most popular options (say 20K worth) for thirty something large off.

Now there are dealers with demos of the "standard" model on the floor that they are massively upside down in, not to mention the private sellers that are trying to sell a two, three year old boat with a reasonable depreciation that are competing with a brand new one......

Why would a factory do this to their owners/dealers? I've heard five dealerships have told the manufacturer to go and (expletive deleted).

Does anyone have insight into THIS particular situation?

I'm shopping, and I want to figure this out before I get burnt.

What does the above have to do with your purchase? How will you get burned?

The equates to auto manufacturers changing features for a new model year, and shipping the new cars to the dealer that still has old inventory on the ground. Negotiate your best deal and go enjoy the boat. Don't worry about the deal others may be getting.

 

[BandB]

It's a marketing gimmick, nothing more and nothing less. Had you wanted that same boat and been willing to pay that same price before you would have gotten it. Grouping equipment add on's allows package discounts because of the margin all those items together carry.

As to the impact on dealers. They always sell at something less than MSRP. Now, these packages do confuse their customer. Let's say you're a customer who comes in expecting to buy at 15% off the listed price. Now you see this package deal and want 15% of it. Well, you want get the same off as there's a discount already built in and the dealer can't now discount that much more.

Most boats that are sold through dealers are sold to the dealers at approximately 30% off list. These packaged deals are often, although not always, sold at 30% off the full list before the package discounts.

A situation you observe often in the industry is some boats with tight margins and less discounting. For example, Chaparral sells at 30% off. However, they sell their H2O line to the dealer at only 10% off so dealers do not discount it at all. Then they sell their Vortex jet boats at 14% off. That is done to be consistent with Yamaha.

Ultimately it's all marketing and merchandising. However, they get there they are looking at the same profit.