Contraction in the motor boating industry

[PowerYachtBlog]

Instinctively I agree with you but it's easy to be a 'product guy' if you've got a bottomless pit of money called BMW, VW or Ford funding you and the luxury of a 5-7 yr turnaround plan. The problem is that boat building is a cottage industry in which most companies can only afford a year or 2 of losses before they go bust or their funders pull the plug. That's the real world of running small to medium sized companies and it's no wonder that the bean counters hold sway, especially during a recession in which turnover is down and margins squeezed.
I also agree with hlb. I'm no global warming supporting tree hugger but IMHO, the motorboating industry better find a more efficient way of powering it's products because eventually, rising fuel costs and environmental pressures are going to kill the industry. IMHO it's no coincidence that boat builders are having to move upmarket and build larger boats to find profits because the cost of running a motorboat is already moving beyond the means of the average punter. If the industry isn't careful, in a few years time, the only market they'll have will be selling 100ft+ boats to Russian oligarchs and hedge fund managers

I do agree with all this, but the mystery of all this is how the servicing of the marine industry from marinas, to the yards, etc etc have also switched in Super Yacht mode as well.
This has also created the slowing in the used boat market.
You can from a certain point of view understand the builders for following the glittering super yacht market, especially if that is going stronger then ever, but how a servicing industry switches mode so fast.

The problem in the marine industry more so in the Med is that there is no white, it is all becoming black, an industry for the most part only dedicated to the bigger super yachts, and even if you own a small one they give you the same prices.
This is where Europe should learn from the USA, where each boat of any size is deemed important....