Odds of Sea Ray getting into the pontoon market?

[Tonka Boater]

Ok, now that I am a Cobalt owner I promise not to infect the waters here and make all my posts about the enemy but......

I was on their website and on the Employment page it says: COBALT IS GROWING! We're expanding our current product line and entering the pontoon boat segment. (http://www.cobaltboats.com/hr/jobs-v11.php)

The pontoon market is huge now but this seems like a huge shift for a company like Cobalt. I bought my Cobalt from a Sea Ray dealer and they said they sell Premier pontoons more than 2:1 over their Sea Rays. At one point Sea Ray announced, but then later backed out of, the jet boat market....what are the odds of them trying the pontoon market?

 

[Summer Fun II]

On our lake theres more pontoon boats than powerboats.

In Rome NY they are building solar powered pontoon boats.

 

[AMFM3]

They are in the pontoon market. The dealers here in BC all have Harris pontoon boats on the lot. I'm not 100% sure but I think the mother ship company builds them.

This is is their website: http://www.harrisflotebote.com

dockside Marine, our Sea Ray Dealer carries them...a lot of them!

Mark

 

[Dave S]

Brunswick already owns four manufacturers that make Pontoon Boats. They are Harris Flote Boats, Cypress Cay, Prince Craft, and Lowe Pontoons. So unless there is a good "branding" reason for Sea Ray to offer Pontoons, I don't think it will happen. Our Sea Ray dealer sells loads of Pontoon boats too, certainly many more units than Sea Rays. It is just the market the way it exists today in certain parts of the country.

However there seems to be something missing from the Pontoon Market, and that is a real "upscale" Pontoon that doesn't look lke most of today's Pontoons. I have seen pictures of a few "upscale" pontoons that are sold by certain manufacturers but they still don't look as good as I think they could be. But I bet if someone like Cobalt is going to put their brand name on a Pontoon, it will be a real nice canboat. And if it is successful, then someone like Sea Ray might do likewise.