Whats this all about?

I guess it is exactly what they wanted - us talking and speculating........
 
I spent at least half my career trying to keep companies from making deadly business mistakes. Sometimes the job was to pull them back from bankruptcy.....in other's it was to liquidate their assets. Every US company faces this and the common thread as to what happens next is who is going to lead the company?

I don't know went wrong at Brunswick but I'll speculate that a number of US companies including GE are in the same bind. The common issues are always the same:

-Innovation stops
-Creative accounting begins
-Failed attempts to buy innovation
-Ignoring new entrants and competitors.
-Outsourcing your Sales to a company you do not control.

Each step moved the great business Sea Ray had away from a path it owned and dominated for decades.

Trying to reclaim the stage it once had isn't really possible with the Brunswick management team. At best, they can force Sea Ray to imitate others that their "focus groups" and consultants think are relevant. That's how you end up with the Venture and now this version which appears to more of a lake boat than something you want to bring in any inlet on the East Coast.

Hopefully they will sell a few of them but I wouldn't count on it especially if Marine Max is the Sales channel.

Again, I believe we all want to see Sea Ray pull through this but copying other manufacturers and selling your product through a channel that includes those manufacturers you copied isn't much of a turnaround strategy.







SLX400OB-slider-3.jpg
 
PlayDate said:
I spent at least half my career trying to keep companies from making deadly business mistakes. Sometimes the job was to pull them back from bankruptcy.....in other's it was to liquidate their assets. Every US company faces this and the common thread as to what happens next is who is going to lead the company?

I don't know went wrong at Brunswick but I'll speculate that a number of US companies including GE are in the same bind. The common issues are always the same:

-Innovation stops
-Creative accounting begins
-Failed attempts to buy innovation
-Ignoring new entrants and competitors.
-Outsourcing your Sales to a company you do not control.

Each step moved the great business Sea Ray had away from a path it owned and dominated for decades.

Trying to reclaim the stage it once had isn't really possible with the Brunswick management team. At best, they can force Sea Ray to imitate others that their "focus groups" and consultants think are relevant. That's how you end up with the Venture and now this version which appears to more of a lake boat than something you want to bring in any inlet on the East Coast.

Hopefully they will sell a few of them but I wouldn't count on it especially if Marine Max is the Sales channel.

Again, I believe we all want to see Sea Ray pull through this but copying other manufacturers and selling your product through a channel that includes those manufacturers you copied isn't much of a turnaround strategy.







SLX400OB-slider-3.jpg
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It appears you have answered my question to Frank. Thanks Playdate!
 
If this is there final design I think Sea Ray May have missed the mark. Just one quick observation they should have run the windshield up to the hard top. Formula has there 430 & 400 crossover and they are selling like hot cakes.
upload_2019-1-15_0-35-38.jpeg
 
Larry said:
If this is there final design I think Sea Ray May have missed the mark. Just one quick observation they should have run the windshield up to the hard top. Formula has there 430 & 400 crossover and they are selling like hot cakes.
View attachment 64119
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I like the formula boats, but not the ridiculous speeds they attain. Haven’t checked, but I’d be curious if you can customize build with twins instead of quads so your top speed is 30 and not 50+. And I definitely agree, run the windshield up and add vents to let air pass through weather permitting. No isinglass, or at least minimize it.
 
Formula is a great example of Leadership. It is a family owned business and the founder Vic Porter has been running it for 50 years. They build solid boats. To an earlier point, they have maintained their own Dealer network and control the Sales and Service channels. Profitable business that continues to grow.
 
techmitch said:
Looks like the 400 SLX OB - 320 Dancer OB to me.
:https://www.searay.com/page.aspx/pageid/160944/pmid/367730/SLX-400-OB.aspx
:https://www.searay.com/page.aspx/pageid/160944/pmid/367731/Sundancer-320-OB.aspx
Compare closely.
Click to expand...

I looked at both of these boats at the Newport Boat Show in the fall. The 320 DA was an interesting boat, with some nice things that focus more on the day boat aspects with a little bit of overnighting. But to me, it was NOT a Sundancer. If they had called it some other name, I would have been more willing to accept it. As it, it strays too far from teh essential nature of the Sundancer.

I looked at the inboard version of the SLX 400 too. It was a very interesting boat with much to like. The hydraulically folding side platform was very cool and really expanded the deck space.

I toured both boats with a gentleman from Sea Ray HQ that works in the factory. I gave him some frank feedback on the designs and what I liked and didn't. One area that I was emphatic about hating was the VERY low windshields on both models. Even when sitting at the helm you're likely to get a blast of wind in the face. It's assured if you are standing. I told the guy they needed to raise the height of the glass to make it more effective at cutting the wind, and consider even bringing the glass all the way up to the arch. His response was that was considered and rejected as not in keeping with what they believe their target customer wants.
 
b_arrington said:
...The hydraulically folding side platform was very cool and really expanded the deck space...
Click to expand...

That is if you like to boat alone, once your in a raft up with other boaters that cool feature is useless. Just my opinion - one more for the just because you can doesn't mean you should.

-Kevin
 
KevinC said:
That is if you like to boat alone, once your in a raft up with other boaters that cool feature is useless. Just my opinion - one more for the just because you can doesn't mean you should.

-Kevin
Click to expand...
Best of both worlds?
 
KevinC said:
That is if you like to boat alone, once your in a raft up with other boaters that cool feature is useless. Just my opinion - one more for the just because you can doesn't mean you should.

-Kevin
Click to expand...
Yes, I totally agree about the rafting up. If you often raft with several other boats, it's not much use. I probably thought it was cool because I only ever raft up with 1 other boat and could take advantage of the function. I got the guy to demo it for me and the operation was quite slick.
 
Bridog said:
View attachment 64466
Yep, now what? Is this thinking out of the box?
Click to expand...

Rear facing rumble seat. I'll speculate their target market is lake and river boaters.

Open bows and sterns make me cringe. It is only a matter of time before a new member asks if they can take their new, open design Sea Ray to the Bahamas.:eek:
 
tiara in the snow 01.JPG
I'm a big fan of hardtops after years of boating in the sun. So, points for adding the hardtop. Subtracted points for designing a hardtop you can not walk on for detailing and washing. Sea Ray seems to go for the glitz which looks good in the showroom, but how in the heck do you keep a boat like that looking good?
 
Ok. So it is an SLX R350. Not sure what the R stand for but I guess Miami will show us. The new 350 slx was launched in Dusseldorf and New York this week, but the transom does not look like this R version.
 
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“R” is for...Red?

The first think I thought of about the foot rest is that it takes space away from the swim platform.
 
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