The market for pleasure boats rose worldwide last year by 3.9% to 17.6 billion Eur. Despite the increase, the signs of market saturation are obvious and strong growth in the future is questionable. Thus, the average sales growth will fall below two percent until 2021, according to a new study conducted by Interconnection Consulting.

China stutters

The outlook for the global economy is rated less optimistic in many places than it was last year. This is mainly due to the trade tensions, which make the companies more cautious. Even the Brexit suffering, where the solution is still awaiting makes the markets insecure and affects spending, especially in Europe. With a global market share of 35.8%, the US is by far the largest boat market, followed by Europe with 21.8%. The largest growth market is traditionally the Asian market. So is the region of Southeast Asia with a growth of 9% (2016-17), the strongest growing region in the world. Markets that gain market share through higher growth are e.g. Northwest Africa, Southeast Africa, Australia, the Middle East and China, but in a global merit, they remain rather small. However, the golden times of the former growth engine China are also over. “The slower pace of growth will also affect the surrounding markets in Asia in the medium term,” says Jan Hudak, author of the study.

Catamarans stabilize the market

The fastest growing product segment is catamarans with a CAGR 17-21 of 4.2% in quantity. Sales of this product group increased by 6.2% in 2018. The growth of motorboats will not be quite as spectacular with a CAGR 17-21 of 2.2%. By contrast, sales of sailboats will stagnate over the next few years (CAGR 17-21 -0.1%).

Strong competition

In total there are more than 1,500 boat and catamaran producers worldwide. As a result of rising demand, the number of catamaran manufacturers is rising at the steepest rate, while the number of sailboat producers is falling for the same reasons. The competition among the producers is very tough, which increases the pressure on the price, which benefits customers, as Hudak concludes. Major producers include Beneteau, Azimut, Sirena Marine, Princess, Sunseeker, Brunswick Group, Grand Soleil and Frauscher.

29/03/2019

Copyright: Interconnection, Publication free of charge for coverage regarding the study and InterConnection Consulting.