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Question For Malibu


rodman

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Hope this gets back to some block head on the Malibu board

With the trend in ski/wake boats taking over the boating world why are there no dealers in Pittsburgh Pa.

Allegheny County In western Pa has the 2nd highest boat registration in the COUNTRY next to Miami Florida.

Our rivers are full of Air Natiques, Supras and Master Crafts.

If I was on the BOD for Malibu you guys would be sweeping floors instead of making decisions.

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Hope this gets back to some block head on the Malibu board

With the trend in ski/wake boats taking over the boating world why are there no dealers in Pittsburgh Pa.

Allegheny County In western Pa has the 2nd highest boat registration in the COUNTRY next to Miami Florida.

Our rivers are full of Air Natiques, Supras and Master Crafts.

If I was on the BOD for Malibu you guys would be sweeping floors instead of making decisions.

Why do you think its Malibus fault, how much do you think it cost to start a dealership, and with this economy who wants to take a risk, there is already a thread on here about the dealers and service and them wanting to hold there margins, why do you think that the dealers want to hold their margins?

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Why do you think its Malibus fault, how much do you think it cost to start a dealership, and with this economy who wants to take a risk, there is already a thread on here about the dealers and service and them wanting to hold there margins, why do you think that the dealers want to hold their margins?

I happen to know a lot about dealerships and franchises and do not want to get on my soap box. All Malibu needs to do is make it more profitable for there dealers. Help them to help us give them free floats, incentives, inventory, better floor plans, good interest rates to pass down to us.

Business is a big gamble that is why not everyone is in it. I understand about profit margin's what what about the money they are paying for there floor plan. There margin shrinks every day that that boat sits. Would you rather sell short or loose money.

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I happen to know a lot about dealerships and franchises and do not want to get on my soap box. All Malibu needs to do is make it more profitable for there dealers. Help them to help us give them free floats, incentives, inventory, better floor plans, good interest rates to pass down to us.

Business is a big gamble that is why not everyone is in it. I understand about profit margin's what what about the money they are paying for there floor plan. There margin shrinks every day that that boat sits. Would you rather sell short or loose money.

So start a dealership.

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I happen to know a lot about dealerships and franchises and do not want to get on my soap box. All Malibu needs to do is make it more profitable for there dealers. Help them to help us give them free floats, incentives, inventory, better floor plans, good interest rates to pass down to us.

Business is a big gamble that is why not everyone is in it. I understand about profit margin's what what about the money they are paying for there floor plan. There margin shrinks every day that that boat sits. Would you rather sell short or loose money.

Malibu already does all of those items mentioned, and as you stated would you rather sell short or loose money, selling short is looseing money, and you can only do that for so long, unless Obama sends a stimulus package.

Now you could adjust your service department fees to make up for margins on boat sales but then you wouldnt have any customers to service , due to the cost of service.

I dont know what the factorys can do to help , banks have tighten their lending, and for a good reason and until things change dealerships will be hard to come by.

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Allegheny County In western Pa has the 2nd highest boat registration in the COUNTRY next to Miami Florida.

I was told this when I moved to the Pitt back in '04. And was also told that the large majority of those registered 'boats' were canoes/kayaks/very small craft.

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I am the Malibu dealer in Conneaut Lake PA. I probably should have joined the Malibu Crew a long time ago, but I work around 65-70 hours/week all summer and my business is open 7 days/week 6 months/year and 6 days/week for the other 6 months. I look around at my customers and freinds and I wonder if they know how lucky they are to have 40 hour/week jobs with weekends and vacations. I have never had a memorial day, 4th of July, or Labor day in my life. Yes, we have been somewhat of a success but there has been a cost.

I have seen dealer after dealer come and go in the Pitts.-Cleve.-Buffalo triangle area. Since I have been with Malibu (2006) I have seen 4 Correct Craft dealers come and go just in westernPA/eastern Ohio. Malibu is doing everything they can do to help their dealers succeed but much depends on the dealers work ethic. Do you think Americans have become a lazy bunch? Something else that needs to be said here..... The boat business is not like the car business. We don't have GMAC or Ford Motor Co. financing. No 1.9% rates. No 0% rates. We don't sell 200 boats/month, or even 50 boats/month. We can't make it up on volume. Did you follow the success of VanDevere Marine in Akron Ohio? They are a successful car dealer who thought it would be easy to be a boat dealer too. They sold Nautiques and Malibus for about 3 years. Sold a few in the Pitts. area. They applied all their automobile expertise to the boat business. Low low prices, make it up on volume etc.. In the proccess they made their boat manufacturers angry, they made their customers angry, and they made their fellow dealers angry. Ron Overburger from Mantua Ohio did the same thing in the 90s. I've been in the boat business for 32 years now and I've learned alot. I do not overcharge for my boats, in fact we are getting way less margin now that we are living in a depressed economy. However, profit is not a dirty word. It is the life blood of any business. Imagine this, you are a Chevrolet dealer in your town but the only thing you are allowed to sell is Corvettes. People don't need a Corvette. They may want one but only a few folks will actually go out and buy one. Then you have all the people who find used corvettes (boats) on the internet and they drive halfway across the country to buy one, maybe even as far as Conneaut Lake ?

Pittsburgh people started to come to Conneaut lake before there were cars. They rode trains to the south shore of our lake, then took a steamer ride up to Conneaut Lake Park. We sold Chris Crafts in the 40s,50s,60s, and our competitor down the street sold Centurys. So inboard boats became a way of life on our lake. It was a natural progression into the inboard ski & wakeboard boats of today. People from Pitts. are still coming to Conneaut Lake to buy inboard boats. They don't mind driving a couple hours to deal with someone who knows and understands their needs and provides good service. This is a niche market and a dealer has to have ski & wakeboard boats in his blood or he will not make it. It doesn't matter if your business is in Pittsburgh or Whoville. There are 5 brands of inboard boats being sold at Conneaut Lake now. Naturally, I'm a little predjudiced toward Malibu but the point I am trying to make is you should not feel bad about driving to Conneaut Lake to look at a Malibu boat. We have an excellent reputation for taking care of our customers at the Navigation Co.. Oh, by the way, in 5 years I have not met any block heads at Malibu. they are good people who are dedicated to this watersports life just like I am.

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