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US boatbuilders are generally upbeat, thanks to demand gains both
at home and abroad. Thom Dammrich, president of the NMMA (National Marine
Manufacturers Association), was in good spirits at this yearís Miami
event (February 12-17, 2004) ó made up as usual of Miami International
Boat Show, Strictly Sail Miami and the break-away Miami Yacht & Brokerage
show. He had good reason. His industry has bounced back from the crisis
of two or three years ago very strongly indeed and most of his boatbuilding
members appear happier now than a year ago.
"If you look at the boatbuilding production figures over the past few
years you will see units were down six per cent in 2001, three per cent
in 2002 and up just one per cent in 2003," he says. But take a look
at the dollar values and the picture is far healthier. Generally the
bigger and more expensive models were selling better last year. We estimate
that dollar volumes at the wholesale level grew by around 9.5 per cent
through 2003 alone. In fact, in terms of dollars, our industry has probably
never been bigger than it is now."
Dammrich was particularly upbeat about the winter show season too.
"All of our NMMA shows were up," he says. "Gates were up on average
between eight and 10 per cent more or less across the board. The exhibitor
response has been very positive too. Beyond the continuing instability
caused by the Iraq situation, we see no major problems impacting retail
demand. The economy is in reasonable shape. The recession is now well
behind us. Unemployment is falling month on month. Inflation is low.
Interest rates are at a 45-year low. And all the forecasts for GDP growth
are very encouraging. And most importantly consumer confidence is climbing
slowly but surely."
So the prognosis for 2004 remains good. Thom Dammrich says his association
expects to see dollar values continue to climb, but this time in line
with units as the bottom end of the market gathers momentum. He says
that most mainstream players tell him that they expect to see around
10 per cent growth across the board in units and value during the coming
year.
To read Key Market Facts on USA Click
here
Summarised from the US Business Report in IBI's June/July 2004 issue.
The full report can be purchased from International Boat Industry -
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