The future for yacht showrooms ??

Nautical

Nautical

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This is how they do boat selling in Germany, impressive stuff. Last time I was there there was about five Pershings and brace of Mochi's and a couple of Ferretti's. The workshop / pdi centre across from the show room was like an operating theatre. There was also some classic Ferrari's and Maserati's on show in the main building.

You can order your boat, spec it how you wish, finance it, register it, set up a maintenance contract, buy your berth, arrange transport to where ever you want all in an afternoon under one roof. Very impressive, mind you with the current climate I wonder how they are doing now, still, the service and facilities were on par with a solus Mercedes or Porsche dealership. I little more up market than current UK fayre. Any chance we would see this sort of set up here or are we too tiddly a market to invest that sort of spondulies?. Would it make any difference to whether you bought a particular brand or not or are you happier with a better price on the boat and less celubrius surroundings ?

Italian Yacht Centre



Inside showroom
 
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You can order your boat, spec it how you wish, finance it, register it, set up a maintenance contract, buy your berth, arrange transport to where ever you want all in an afternoon under one roof. Very impressive

[/ QUOTE ]Naah, I'll be impressed if and when they'll manage to bring also the most important part under that roof - the sea trial.
 
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I though that Cranchi had a waterside showroom and demonstration facility. Always seemd like a good model to me.

Pete

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the Cranchi one is located in Udine
yep and also Amizut have one in Savona and another in Varazze I beleive
 
Hmmm. I might be a bit of a cheapskate philistine but I wouldn't want to pay for that in terms of dealer margin. Remeber that thread a couple of months ago on kitchens, where we discussed that if you go straight to the carpenter you get the same thing at much less than if you go to the Chelsea showroom? Same kinda idea. I care about the boat, not the showroom it sits in!

So I much prefer say Essex Boatyards, where there are portacabin offices and you have to traipse across gravel and stuff but you get a great deal and still excellent service from the actual people who run the place

Come to think of it, would the fancy showroom be full of front men/women? So if you ask "Can you fit one of these gizmos to the boat?" they reply "Well I'll have to ask the engineering department about that and get back to you". At Essex Boatyards and others of that ilk they tell you straight yes/no and how much, right there and then, cos the sales folks also know the engineering side.
 
Totally agree. There isn't the margin or the sales volume in the UK to justify showrooms of that expense! /forums/images/graemlins/ooo.gif

Essex / Fairline Southampton do seem to have the balance right and a good deal of experience at hand. I'd always recommend them. /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif
 
Very impressive and done with typical Italian flare and style. My parents did an unusual holiday trip to Modena to see the Ferrari (and other Italian supercars) "experience". Not a holiday I would have chosen myself but their discription and photos convinced me otherwise. Same flare, same style. Not one iota of shabbyness or indifference to be found. Its the way to make people part with their money!
 
This is typical of the way boats are sold in Germany and Holland although this is a very swish establishment. I've bought 2 used boats in Germany and Holland from places like this and both were shown parked up in large show warehouses along with many other new and used boats. Every boat was clean and accessible from purpose built walkways and, in my case, the boats I was looking at were heated and adorned with fresh flowers and brewing coffee, despite the fact that both were brokerage boats and not even owned by the dealer. The dealer staff were knowledgeable and helpful and, yes, their offices were also equally swish with yet more coffee and hot and cold running bimbettes.
Quite why anyone should prefer to buy from the typical UK Arthur Daley bombsite type dealer operating from a secondhand portacabin and selling filthy boats tied to a rickety old pontoon, I don't know. In my case, I felt I got a good financial deal certainly no worse than I would have got in the UK and I was treated entirely professionally throughout. These large Dutch and German operations seem to have a high sales throughput and in many cases supplement their income with servicing, chandlery and transport operations so IMHO, it's wrong to assume that you are paying extra when you buy from a place like this
Is this the way forward? IMHO, definitely yes. Much of the UK marine business is a one man and a dog type cottage industry with a 1960's attitude to customer service. Maybe the recession will force businesses to up their game?
 
Have to agree with you on that one Mike. Although I have never bought a boat through one of these set ups I have visited a few and have to say the whole experience was very professional, nothing was too much trouble even though they knew I wasn't buying (guess they take the view I may end up a client some day).

What struck me was the level of knowledge from the staff on each product, they could tell you anything and everything about each model, no running off to get someone or 'I'll find out' or simply. 'er, I dunno!'

I don't think the prices were any different than any where else and certainly last summer they had a high through put of vessels so they probably make smaller margins after overheads but sell more volume.

I did get a feeling of security (although there are never any guarantees) they were a steady well financed company. No data to support that of course but there was an air of serenity or unhurried / rushed feeling, they wanted to sell of course but I didn't get the impression that it was life or death if they didn't.

Seems crazy to talk of such at the moment but I can see after the doom of what surrounds the UK now and the blood shed taking place that a similar set up would do very well when the markets recover. Somewhere South Coast with access to waterways for sea trials/ commissioning etc. Yes the UK market or actual deliveries to would not be sustainable but what makes the difference is the med sales from UK buyers, just as it does for the German operations, the volume actually delivered to Germany is small but the volume delivered to the med for German customers is big.

I have a gut feeling that this maybe a turning point in the UK industry, the old guard and 'cottage industry' type affairs are falling by the wayside at an alarming rate. The recovery within a couple of seasons may see a more mature and well structured but smaller amount of dealers but pitched in a more professional and upmarket environment. The credit issue and access to easy money will have gone and the volume of units smaller but on a more sustainable margin. Currently the discounts available on some products are just ridiculous, product being sold at less than cost, one can see the writing on the wall for many dealers it is just totally unsustainable.

So guess my thoughts are while the current market might be on its bum it will actually be very good for the industry as a whole a couple of seasons down the road.

Now where did I put that planning application /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 
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