If they weren't selling retail, there would need to be about 350 dealers, world wide to have absorbed all the inventory built to date. Hard to know, but if there are more than three on the west coast of the US, another three on the east coast, and two or so down in the Gulf that would be one heck of a lot of dealers. A lot of the sales so far have been in Europe, where the boat originated. If these people have 35 dealers, worldwide, (and they probably don't have anywhere close to that) it's hard to imagine that each dealer has an average of 10 unsold boats in inventory. The dealer in Seattle has one, so that would mean somebody else has 20.
Cute but not based on facts, far from it.
As far as "how many have been sold at a profit", that's tough to say but there's no compelling reason for a dealer to sell a boat at a loss. Once the factory sells the boat to the dealer, whatever profit is realized after that is up to the dealer and the buyer to work on when final price is negotiated.
No indication at all that any boats have been sold at a profit vs. all introductions.
I agree that lack of speed in the electric mode will be an issue for a lot of traditional trawler owners. We think 7-8 knots is pretty "normal", but half to two thirds of that speed is going to seem slow to most of us. It's a concept more likely to be embraced, at least initially, by cruising sailors.
The slow electric speed would also be very useful when trolling for salmon.
Customers will likely consist of a wide variety of folks with different motivations. To a degree, it will be a lot like having a "hybrid" car. Some of the buyers will simply enjoy making a statement about "being green". Some of the buyers will be sailors who aren't as concerned about speed but have reluctant to give up sailing because of engine noise, exhaust, and other internal combustion issues. Just like a sailboat, when the solar power (either electrical or wind) gives out you start the engine and motor on.
Anyway, the factory claims to have built and launched over 350 boats, and that's confirmed by the sequential HIN's. There haven't been any retailed in the Pacific Northwest, so far and apparently not wherever you're from, either. Nevertheless, it's a big world and some boats that sell well in America are rarely seen in Europe and the reverse is true as well.
I don't know where they claim that. Segway sure doesn't. They claim to have designed 264 boats but we're talking builds by them and specifically Greenline. 6-8 is more like the number.
No doubt, this is still in the "introductory phase", but for anybody these days to build almost 100 copies per year of anything in the 33-foot range is a remarkable achievement, all things considered. One thing upon which everybody is likely to agree, this is a unique concept.
That is so true and Greenline is more in the 2 boats per year range, not 100.
