Searay lays off 180

avguy

avguy

New Member
Dec 19, 2006
715
East TN
Boat Info
'05 240 Sundeck
Engines
350 Mag
Picked this off one of the local news sites tonight. Should be more in tomorrows news. Scott




Knoxville-based Sea Ray Boats said today it has laid off 180 workers, or five percent of its work force, due to a continued weak market.

Say Ray said the layoffs will affect manufacturing facilities in East Tennessee, Florida and Ohio.

Eighty of those laid off come from all three manufacturing facilities in East Tennessee.

The company, struggling with soft sales for months, laid off about 90 East Tennessee workers in early August.

In East Tennessee, Sea Ray employs about 1,900 workers at its three plants, two in Knox County and one in Vonore. The company also has four plants in Florida.
 
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I blame marine max . I think they control over 55% of the searay boat market. There pricing structure is brutal.. They reap what they sew....

Rob
 
Here is the news story about the layoffs. http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2007/oct/05/sea-ray-facing-more-layoffs/

And here is one excerpt that caught my eye as well:

Brunswick Chairman and CEO Dusty McCoy has been saying for months that boat sales were suffering.
On July 20, he told investors that this year was shaping up to be the worst for boat sales since 1965.

:smt009:smt009:smt009
 
Its all part of the economic swings a company faces in competing in a demand driven business. Sea Ray's goals are to limit open factory capacity and match capacity to demand in order to run their factories ad capacity rather than to have short schedules and un-recovered fixed overhead.

I hate the layoffs, though, for those of you who want to trade up or buy new boats because the lower factory capacity means that there will be less supply and fewer boats unsold at the dealers. Buyers are in a much stronger position if their dealer has several unsold new boats than if there is one or if they are waiting for the next truck to get one. The next few weeks may be one of the best buying periods we ever see for new Sea Rays.
 
Well. . . .speaking as a consumer. . .have you SEEN the prices of new boats these days? OH MY WORD. The weak sales do not surprise me.
 
Frank,
No deals to be had at marine max LI. They have had a 42 dancer there for 2 years now ... price is unchanged. No wiggle... Yet our boats depreciate hourly.. WTF

Rob
 
. . . .which is one of the two reasons I did not buy new. The "illusion" of strong market demand when none actually exists. I have seen other dealers attempt to pull the same kind of pricing.

I know Frank has talked about "put a check in front of them" to really start negotiation. But for me, I can't commit to buying a boat (which is what a check means) if the asking price is complete fantasy.

The other issue is the limited dealer networks. There is ONE crownline dealer in PA, and ONE crownline dealer in NJ. And who but Marine Max sells SeaRay? If you don't like those dealers -> you are buying a different BRAND.
 
comsnark said:
. . . .which is one of the two reasons I did not buy new. The "illusion" of strong market demand when none actually exists. I have seen other dealers attempt to pull the same kind of pricing.

I know Frank has talked about "put a check in front of them" to really start negotiation. But for me, I can't commit to buying a boat (which is what a check means) if the asking price is complete fantasy.

The other issue is the limited dealer networks. There is ONE crownline dealer in PA, and ONE crownline dealer in NJ. And who but Marine Max sells SeaRay? If you don't like those dealers -> you are buying a different BRAND.
Click to expand...

Deals are out there now ... it just takes a real hefty lowball bid at 25 to 30% below asking to buy right ... http://clubsearay.com/forum/showthread.php?t=5318
 
180 people is a lot of folks out of work at this time of year. However our government says that the economy created over 100,000 jobs in September so I think 180 can find other employment. Just not in the boat business. :smt009

As for the market, those that have money and are looking for a deal should be able to find one or two out there even if dealers are trying to hold prices. Salesmen on commission will soon realize, 5 percent of something is better than 5 percent of nothing. :wow:
 
Sea Ray initiates another round of layoffs

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Sea Ray Boats will further decrease production and subsequently reduce its work force by approximately 180 positions, or about 5 percent of its work force, immediately, it reported in a statement today.

The reductions will affect certain Sea Ray manufacturing facilities in East Tennessee and Florida as well as Baja Boats in Ohio.

These actions are in response to continued weakness in the marine market, according to the company. While the U.S. marine industry has seen a double-digit drop in demand over the past year in a progressively challenging sales environment, Sea Ray has increased its U.S. market share, it stated. However, numerous economic pressures continue to reduce consumers’ spending power and new boat purchases are being adversely impacted. Sea Ray said it has concluded it must take measures to size its costs in line with the declining market.

In East Tennessee, Sea Ray will have approximately 80 reductions at its three plants in the area as well as its administrative staff. Earlier this year, Sea Ray had reduced its work force in this region by about 90 positions.

Florida operations will have approximately 55 reductions, at the Palm Coast facility and Sea Ray’s Product Development and Engineering staff in Merritt Island. There will be no reductions at the Merritt Island or Sykes Creek manufacturing facilities, Sea Ray reported.

Baja Boats in Bucyrus, Ohio, will reduce its work force by approximately 40 positions.

In addition to these reductions, Sea Ray plants also will go on furlough during the week of Thanksgiving to help further reduce costs.

“These decisions are very difficult, but nonetheless must be made to protect the overall health of the business,” the company said. “Affected employees will receive assistance in transitioning to other employment.”

Source
http://www.boating-industry.com/output.cfm?id=1297027
 
With crude oil at $97/bbl the market is doomed for these floating gas hogs. In ten years only the truly wealthy will be owners of large boats.
 
10 Year Plan
Step 1 - Get "Truly" Wealthy
Step 2 - Buy Large Boat
Step 3 - Look up Gary *
Step 4 - Smile and Wave

High gas prices can take some of the fun out of boating, I felt it a bit last year. But as so many have pointed out, price of gas is just a part of total yearly boat ownership costs.

*I only chose Gary cause he seems like a likely target with a sense of humor, no offense intended
 
You don't need the disclaimer, Gary is tough. Those big boat guys can handle the abuse :grin:
 
We were talking to a "big boat guy" on our dock and this was his take on gas prices...."It keeps more of the riff raff(sp?) off the water". I thought that was funny. In my case, gas is the cheapest part of boating.
 
Ah, yes...the riff raff. :smt043 I guess that means when fuel gets high enough or he can't find any he then becomes part of the rest of us Riff Raff. :wow:
 
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