Maritime upswing gaining stability

Already last year the signs of an upswing were clearly noticeable. The trade fair season 2006/2007 further reinforced the positive prevailing mood. The expectations were correspondingly optimistic for the water sport season 2007. They have been confirmed.

Production targets achieved
The industry leader Bavaria Yachtbau will achieve the production target announced for the 2006/2007 financial year of 4,000 yachts (3,200 sailing and 800 motor yachts). This represents an increase of more than 10% in comparison with the previous year’s figure. The second-largest German manufacturer HanseYachts AG was equally successful. The level of 585 yachts produced in the 2005/2006 financial year had already been reached in the 3rd quarter of the following year. The 2006/2007 result will probably be just over 800 yachts. In the 2007/2008 financial year, it aims to clearly exceed the 1,000 yacht mark.

Companies expect further sale increases
This admittedly does not allow us to draw any conclusions about the German market trend. About 90% of the yachts produced are destined for export. Indicators of the more stable German market, however, are the import figures. Comparing the first six months of 2006/2007, imports of motorboats have increased from 2,133 to 3,047 (+ 42.9 %), while the figure for sailing yachts rose from 751 to 1,044 (+39%). This positive trend is also reflected in the business survey conducted by the association as of 31 July. 75% of the companies questioned (previous year 57.1%) judge the business trend in the area of sailing yachts as equally good or better in comparison with the previous year. For motorboats the figure was 66% (previous year 56.5%). The medium-term business trend is also positively assessed by the companies: 57.7% (previous year 41.1%) of companies believe there will be further sales increases in the next 2-3 years.

Source: Bundesverband Wassersportwirtschaft www.bwvs.de

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