WHERE DID ONE MILLION REGISTERED BOATS IN THE US GO? IS THE DECLINE DUE TO MSRP

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ARE THE PRICES OF BOATS CREATING A DECLINE IN BOATS REGISTERED IN THE US ?

Number of registered recreational boating vessels in the U.S. from 1980 to 2014 (in millions)

The statistic shows the number of registered recreational boating vessels in the U.S. from 1980 to 2014. In 2010, there were about 12.44 million registered vessels in the U.S.

Recreational boating - additional information

According to the U.S. Coast Guard, there were just short of 12 million registered recreational boating vessels in the United States in 2014. The number of registered vessels grew steadily from 8.58 million in 1980, reaching peaks of 12.88 million in 2001 and 12.94 million in 2005, before gradually starting to decline. Recreational boating is the use of a boating vessel for leisure purposes. This often only involves travel on the water itself but can also include water related activities such as fishing. It is a popular activity in the U.S., with rising participation in recent years. In 2013, more than 88 million U.S. adults participated in recreational boating.

The most popular type of boat used for recreational boating in the U.S. is the outboard boat. Outboard boats are usually small watercraft with a motor attached to the outside of vessel. While they are the most common type of boat in use, the number of outboard boats sold annually in the U.S. has declined significantly since 2000. In 2013, around 135 thousand outboard boats were sold at an average unit price of 22 thousand U.S. dollars. Between 2000 and 2013, the average unit price increased markedly, which is perhaps a reason for the declining sales volume during those years.

Information from STATISTA

As boat builders focus more and more on the fully loaded boats. The product we see at the 2016 Boat Shows. This need to provide all the bells and whistles combined the new technology and costs associated with the change over to fly by wire control. The price of new boats, the costs of maintenance, insurance and mooring are pushing boat ownership out of reach for many. Boat builders, dealers and organizations brag about big numbers from sales volumes. They may brag about the numbers but there is a lack of open discussion about the fact that these numbers seem to be based on the growing MSRP on a lower volume of boats being sold in the US. The number of registered vessels in the US is down right around one million boats since 2005.

I wrote an article awhile ago in which I said that boating was making a return to the top percentage of income earners again. And that the boating for the masses was moving else were in the world. There are very few starter boats out there today. Increases in North American sales numbers are the highest in PWC and Aluminum Boats. And by the way were did those one million boats go that dropped of the US Boat Registry? They did not all end up in the scrap heap, a little food for thought. I have stressed the fact that the rest of the world had picked up the North American appitite to boat and if nothing brings that home more than the fact that one million boats had left the us market.  When these stats were released. Boating truly is international and it is in the International market place we will have to keep an eye for new design, trends and ideas in the Power Boat Industry. How about a boat designed by ASTON MARTIN, this is the second boat I have seen in the last few weeks designed by a car company in Europe

Information from NMMA:

Top 20 Markets by FAS Value   (Annual + Year-To-Date Data from January–October, USD Thousands)
Country	2009	2010	2011	2012	2012 YTD	2013 YTD	Change YTD 2012–13
Canada	477,544	601,814	637,418	690,246	588,933	617,224	4.80%
Australia	116,350	240,985	249,639	196,722	155,412	157,462	1.30%
Mexico	76,527	97,573	84,595	113,357	92,289	80,400	-12.90%
Belgium	81,806	104,003	92,086	106,472	93,319	97,328	4.30%
Brazil	37,789	66,131	72,240	84,255	65,144	58,004	-11.00%
Japan	25,826	25,055	35,088	61,033	49,111	36,531	-25.60%
Italy	85,007	92,861	70,197	53,814	50,244	51,065	1.60%
Germany	46,248	54,879	51,137	49,880	43,518	37,546	-13.70%
UAE	47,409	38,627	29,916	45,905	33,145	29,826	-10.00%
Venezuela	30,261	32,992	34,544	41,126	32,344	22,839	-29.40%
Costa Rica	26,820	31,653	33,560	40,027	10,323	8,998	-12.80%
China	13,029	24,104	36,860	37,369	34,796	37,290	7.20%

Argentina	10,789		28,867		24,504		36,275		23,346		22,788		-2.40%
New Zealand	15,463		19,132		24,288		35,849		17,022		22,281		30.90%
Netherlands	46,917		49,105		57,220		35,664		31,003		27,434		-11.50%
Sint Maarten	0		0		13,626		33,099		27,821		17,114		-38.50%
Russia	14,033		12,862		17,974		30,673		29,770		24,337		-18.20%
Spain	27,260		34,587		41,467		29,616		25,722		40,794		58.60%
UK	56,101		44,969		38,645		29,589		25,696		19,604		-23.70%
France	30,606		34,192		29,383		26,671		23,972		23,317		-2.70%
Subtotal	1,265,785		1,634,388		1,674,388		1,777,643		1,452,929		1,432,182		-1.40%
All Other	507,807		559,427		518,637		492,761		386,067		370,623		-4.00%
World Total		1,773,592		2,193,815		2,193,024		2,270,404		1,838,996		1,802,805

Competitors
 In 2012, the United States ranked among the top three market suppliers with an approximate 25 percent market share. Other competitor countries include Japan, Germany, France and Italy.

 

Pleasure Boat International Resource Guide

A REFERANCE FOR US EXPORTERS 2014

The International Markets that the US Department of Commerce / NMMA has noted in the publication that guide US Boat Builders on International markets, below is the list of countries :

ARGENTINA, BELGIUM, CANADA, CHINA, COLUMBIA, CROATIA, CZECH REPUBLIC, DENMARK, EGYPT, FRANCE, GERMANY, ITALY, JAPAN, MEXICO, NETHERLANDS, NIGERIA,NORWAY, POLAND, SOUTH AFRICA, SPAIN, SWEDEN, TAIWAN, TURKEY, and the UK 

I really hope the American Builders start to look at the trends and consider the rising costs of new boats requires the need to have an entry level boat that is in the same MSRP neighbor hood as PWC and Aluminum Pontoon Boats. Quite possibly this will be Bayliner again!  

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