Sea Ray Boats plans to eliminate 90 jobs at its two Knoxville, Tennessee facilities. The Brunswick builder also said in a statement released to local media outlets that it would be cutting jobs in all of seven of its US production facilities. According to a story in the Knoxville News, Sea Ray said that the cuts are in response to continuing low consumer demands for boats.

"We will reassign many employees whose jobs otherwise may have been eliminated and have them concentrate on vital strategic initiatives and projects, including continuous improvement projects, facility improvements and training," said Rick Stone, president of Sea Ray Boats, in the statement. Stone noted that the Knoxville cuts amount to less than three per cent of the total workforce.

In East Tennessee, Sea Ray employs about 1,900 people. "Although we have generally performed better than the rest of the marine retail market, 2008 model year commitments gathered at our dealer meeting, concluded July 18, will not support our current production levels," said Stone in the statement.

The Sea Ray chief also said that the company would take further steps "to balance supply and demand" though he did not elaborate on details.

According to Statistical Surveys, Inc, which tracks 94 per cent of US retail boat sales, Sea Ray sold 2,162 units for the first quarter of 2007 (latest available figures), up 1.1 per cent in the number of units sold compared to last year. For 2006, it sold 10,942 units, which was down 7 per cent compared to the previous year.

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