Boating is More Affordable Than Ever Before

News provided by

Mercury Marine

Apr 30, 2015, 16:00 ET


Fond du Lac, Wisconsin (PRWEB) April 30, 2015 -- According to the National Marine Manufacturers Association (NMMA), 76 percent of all boat owners have a household income of under $100,000. The reason that boating is more affordable today has a lot to do with a culture shift in the marine industry to get people out on the water.

"Boating is one of the most wholesome family activities in the world," said Lee Gordon, Mercury Marine director of public relations. "Time with your family is precious and what a better way to spend that time than out on the water. With fuel prices declining and an increased focus on technology, there's never been a better time to go boating."

Mercury Marine is the only OEM manufacturer with a Remanufacturing division that offers sustainable and affordable repower options for outboard, inboard, and sterndrive boats.

Mercury Remanufacturing offers factory Certified Pre-Owned outboard engines including the powerful Verado models. Exclusive to Mercury Remanufacturing are the Plus Series engines used to repower sterndrive and inboard boats built before 2010 that do not require catalysts. The comprehensive Plus Series line-up ranges from 135-440 HP, and has a promotion through Mercury Product Protection for three years of coverage.

Quicksilver Remanufacturing offers remanufactured powerheads for many 2-Stroke and 4-Stroke Mercury outboards. Also offered are Pro-Series remanufactured longblocks from 3.0L to 8.2L for all makes of sterndrive and inboard marine engines. The Pro-Series longblocks presently have a 3 year warranty promotion on all engines sold in 2015.

Mercury Marine works with the NMMA and other industry organizations to encourage and promote the boating industry. New technology and innovation have encouraged boaters of all ages to follow in the footsteps of their family traditions or get out on the water for the first time.

"Our job is to show you how much fun boating can be," Gordon said. "If we can do that, and then show you how affordable boating is, then we will continue to attract new boaters.

U.S. recreational boating facts and figures (source: NMMA):

  • Recreational boating in the US is a $35 billion industry and creates 338,526 marine industry jobs (manufacturing, dealers/wholesalers, services) at 34,833 marine industry businesses.
  • Recreational boating retail expenditures (new and pre-owned boats and engines, trailers, accessories and services including fuel, repair, storage, insurance, taxes) increased 10 percent in 2012 to $35.6 billion.
  • Retail sales of new powerboats increased 10.1 percent in 2012.
  • Retail sales of new power and sailboats increased 10.7 percent in 2012 to 163,245 boats, demonstrating the first significant sign of a post-recession recovery for the industry.
  • It’s not just new boats Americans are buying. There were an estimated 969,000 pre-owned boats (power, PWCs, and sail) sold in 2012, an increase of 6 percent from 2011.
  • Americans are taking to the water in record numbers: Of the 232.3 million adults in the US in 2012, 37.8 percent, or 88 million, participated in recreational boating at least once during the year. This is a 6 percent increase from 2011 and the largest number of US adults participating in boating since NMMA began collecting the data in 1990.
  • There were an estimated 12.1 million registered boats (power, sail, and some canoes/kayaks and other non-powered boats) in the U.S. in 2012.
  • Fishing remains the number one (63 percent) boating activity current participants engaged in while boating in 2012; 20 percent went tubing, 17 percent went waterskiing and 9 percent went wakeboarding for a total of 46 percent who participated in watersports (tubing, waterskiing, wakeboarding).
  • 95 percent of the boats on the water are 26 feet or less.
  • 76 percent of boat owners have a household income less than $100,000.

Lee Gordon, Mercury Marine, http://www.mercurymarine.com, +1 9209241808, [email protected]