Mastercrafts new nxt line

[sandm]

as mentioned in the first page, this feels more about profit and increased sales than anything else. some beancounter does a market survey and stumbles across axis/moomba and wants to know why mc can't compete in that price class and voila, we have the nxt.
if it's true that mc is owned by a private equity firm, they are all about the ROI and eventual sell/ipo('bu case and point). introducing the nxt and if it is a success for the first couple of years could show mc as a growing brand long enough to dump the company for a tidy profit. I would bet in the history of towboats, the switch/v-ride/cc176 were successful in the short term and that may be what mc/equity firm are looking for. look at what axis did for 'bu and the associated ipo that just went public, and ultimately for the investment house that owned them.

[Ewok]

Lets do a survey, how many out there have seen a base Moomba or Axis, the ones that come in for service are optioned out to where they could have bought a Malibu or Supra, the base boats track record doesnt show to be succesful in the past , look at Malibu v- ride, CC 176 they were available, Tige switch series.
Also you will notice the prices of Axis and Moomba are going up because more are being ordered with up grades.

I knew a guy when I was stationed in OK who had a basic Moomba outback. My 09 RZ2 just had the basic stereo, no tower of power, had factory ballast (900lb was only option then), vision air seat, dual batteries and swivel board racks. At the dealer I added the Bimini and Bimini extension (I lived in TX at the time). The very next year the same options on a RZ2 had a 10k price bump because of Tige Touch. I guess they need to put TT in as many boats to spread the cost out but it would be nice if they offered a technology delete option to put a regular dash and switches back into the helm to lower costs a bit. I know dealers probably wouldn't order any showroom boats that way but it could be a way to get people talking about value centric boat options again. Plus older guys like me who don't trust the durability of touch screens to last more than 5 years might be more inclined to look at a new boat without the touch screen.

[Ewok]

Like sandm says the MC NXT is about volume and getting future customers hooked on the brand, ala Mercedes C class sedan, their most popular and volume sales leader, and their new CLA 250, which I can afford and I'm looking very hard at right now. Same as the R20 for Tige. I guess if you can't beat them, join them.

[IDBoating]

How many more Toyotas would they have sold if you could buy it for less without the stereo and paint scheme?

One major thing arguing against that is that auto manufacturers make a lot of margin on power locks, power windows, radio, and other fancy accessories. So generally they are motivated to include these as rationalization for an increased price. But that is mass manufacturing, the polar opposite of the inboard industry where each unit has a lot of manual labor and many are near-customs.

[helmut]

Hey Tall it was the X1 (205v). At that price though it had nothing. Pretty lame attempt.

[dom w. forte]

One major thing arguing against that is that auto manufacturers make a lot of margin on power locks, power windows, radio, and other fancy accessories. So generally they are motivated to include these as rationalization for an increased price. But that is mass manufacturing, the polar opposite of the inboard industry where each unit has a lot of manual labor and many are near-customs.

This was my point with that statement , it cost the manufacturer more money to produce the vehicles without the options because they ramped up to build with, example was the SVO Mustang , it was 1000.00 more for the option delete package.

[IDBoating]

This was my point with that statement , it cost the manufacturer more money to produce the vehicles without the options because they ramped up to build with, example was the SVO Mustang , it was 1000.00 more for the option delete package.

Right... when tooled up for mass production, any variations are expensive. But inboard boat manufacturing is not mass production by any definition.

[dom w. forte]

No there not mass produced but the vary options we are talking about are the most common wanted and come in as reasonably priced when added at the factory level but when we dealers have to add, cost a lot more due to things that have to be removed to add , so you can cut your cost as I said with a base boat but if you want to add later its comeing out of your pocket versus a small increase in boat payment if ordered with what you want.
What I would like to see is the factorys offer packages like the car industry with a disscount because its a package , example: extreem pkg, max ballast, bigger motor , up grade stereo , VX, color and graphics next : family pkg, bimini , heater, shower, possibly camera, next: safety or lighting , docking lights, underwater lights , tower mood lights, its tough to figure, why dont we start a thread on here of what would be everybodys idea of what they would like to see as packages that would come with a disscounted price due to all items added during production, if thats possible.

[talltigeguy]

I think Dom is totally right, that by the time you include the options you want, the 'budget' boat price gets blown up. But if I understand the MC guy correctly, the NXT is supposed to have the core things that you need, like cruise, ballast, tower, bimini, etc. But we will see when it comes out what the real deal is.

I bet like was said above, if you took the Touch out of the tige, it would probably cost more now to make, thinking of the extra man hours teaching your crew how to wire everything 2 different ways.

I am frightened to see the days in 10 years with all of these touch screens with antiquated software, and no one who knows how to update it.

[supremedevice]

I am frightened to see the days in 10 years with all of these touch screens with antiquated software, and no one who knows how to update it.

One reason that I went for the R20 was the lack of touch screen. I like the idea of switches, easy to flip, nothing to learn, issues can be diagnosed without another computer. They are timeless in a sense.

Software, interfaces and hardware on the other hand will be dramatically different in 10 years, so my guess is all these integrated systems will have to be completely replaced as they age. Not a big deal if you have lots of money or plan on continually upgrading, but it sounds like an expensive hassle if you plan on keeping the boat for a while. Meanwhile, the boat still looks great, hopefully. My point is the boat itself should last 20+ years, but any screen-based electronic device becomes obsolete in 5 years or less.

[wakemitch]

At our shop we are seeing the same as Dom. People dont want stripped down, they want every option. The boats with less options sit much longer.
Boats like Axis and the R20 can be had in the 50s, but very few are willing to compromise on their options. It's interesting.

I read this article yesterday and I think it hits the nail on the head. This is why we are seeing more boats over $100k.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/03/bu...=tw-share&_r=0

[talltigeguy]

I read this article yesterday and I think it hits the nail on the head. This is why we are seeing more boats over $100k.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/03/bu...=tw-share&_r=0

Yup, that would explain the market we are seeing in boats. I thought it was interesting that it stated that catering to the middle class is a dangerous place to be, because more money can be made by catering to the wealthy. Thanks for sharing that, Mitch. Tige has put a lot of emphasis on trying to sell boats to the wealthiest, and I'm sure that their business model tells them that is where the money is at.

[IDBoating]

Well, if that report is correct and there AREN'T any buyers in the middle class, then I can definitely see the logic in not offering an entry-level boat. No sense having products for customers that literally don't exist. I was thinking that the reason folks aren't interested in entry-level boats is because those customers just aren't coming into the showroom. Instead, it sounds like they simply don't exist.

I must say, though, that boat sales are still occurring in the $50-60K range. So there are at least SOME buyers there. But maybe not enough to warrant the attention of inboard manufacturers.

[sandm]

I was in that 50-60k range even though I could buy more. don't need more. my dealer told me you couldn't order a tige other than the r20 w/o tt. I really don't like all the extras but wanted the tige hull for surfing in a boat longer/wider than the 20ft.
there are people out there and I would bet if tige produced the 22ve hull with the r20 toggles and gauges at a 60k pricepoint, it would sell. maybe not volumes but similar to cars where you can order the nav/upgraded audio vs a stripped am/fm/cd.

thanks for the article. interesting..

[boardman74]

See I disagree with some of this. To me the inboard buyer is middle class, probably upper middle class. I would like to see some money figures to go along with their percents to see where we are making cut offs. We(my family) are middle class in my mind. Most of the people I know with inboards I would also call middle class. A few are getting into that cake eater status but not most I see in our area.

Sadly you don't need that much annual income to get a loan to buy one of these beauties, and regardless of what people admit on the inter web, MOST of these boats go out on long term loans!!!