Why doesn't tige make a R22 or other?

[sandm]

I would like to see tige back into a basic boat other than the r20 and price it competitively without all the addons. I know it would sell. I really thought tige was out of my league when I was shopping. z1 wasn't out yet, not into the 20ft as I wanted a 22ft widebeam boat coming from a supra launch20. all the boats on the dealer lot were in the 80-90k range and like tigeidaho, out of my camp. talked to the dealer for an hour or so and a phone call the next day found my boat..
I paid 60k for my 22ve brand new in '12 with several options(bimini/shower/heater/cover/surf ballast) and really only needed to add boardracks for $1600(granted stereo was basic deck and 4speakers but most would say that's a blank slate to start with) total was 64k tax/dealer/title. that's very competitive with the a22. how hard would it be for tige to resurrect the 22ve/24ve with no tt and get it in the low60's fully loaded.

[boardman74]

My dealer ordered I think 4 R20's last year. One went to a lease at a surf school. The other 3 I helped him sell at the end of the season for basically cost. They were pretty bare boats(cover, center cooler with filler, carpet, depth finder). They sat pretty much for a year. They sold very quickly when discounted to year end pricing and were a great deal for the people who bought them. But it does lend some truth to what Dom is saying.

When we priced them side by side, optioned similar it was right around 6K difference to go to the RZR. That is because so many things that are standard on the RZR are cost options on the R20. There is value for the right person that is going to buy the boat pretty bare. But if you option them up, then the value quickly disappears. I mean you can still buy them in the mid 40's, what other Vdrive can touch that?

[tigeidaho]

So what I wonder is do the R20s not sell well because they are stripped down and by the time you add wants it's an RZR? Or does the fact that it's a 20' boat come into play? In our area 20' boats aren't really desirable regardless of the options. The reason I keep talking about 22' boats is because that's our ideal size. Like Sandm I have had a smaller boat and didn't want to go that route again. We are in a 23v right now and it turned out to be more boat than we wanted. I think a basic equipped 22' tige w/ no TT, simple but nice vinyl, ballast option, vx option and stereo option would pull a lot of interest and then people can decide if they want the options and whether they can afford them. If not then you still have a sweet tige with the ability to add some of those things later. The best part is you could do it all under the tige name, instead of rebranding.

[jmoore15]

Completely agree. I don't think the R20 is in the same discussion. I just went from a 2010 Z1 to a Z3 and I would gladly give up gadgets like the TT for toggle switches to save a few dollars. I'm still getting used to the gadgets but at this point I actually prefer some of the features on my old boat. Having said all of that, given my needs and my preference for the wake the R20 is not an option for me but a 22-23ft boat as mentioned above would be. The thing I think everyone seems to agree on is that boat prices have gotten stupid and something has to change to help provide folks with more options to get the performance they are looking for at a price point that make sense for them.

[Ewok]

In the name of packages, they could call it the R22 package which would be basic gel coat, 2009 dashboard with toggle switches, possibly a cheaper tower option but the alphaZ is pretty desirable as a standard option. The tower would only be black and come with fixed board racks, basic drivers seat and steering wheel. All the other individual items can be added or add them as additional packages. I can see 3 trim lines for the RZ2, the basic R22 as described above, the standard RZ2 that we love right now and the RZ2 Platinum edition, like we have now as the top trim line. I think people would be very receptive to this pricing scheme, and take it across the line, have the R20 as it is, the RZR as the mid level and add the RZR platinum, and the same with the RZ4, and the Z1 and Z3, call the base model the Z21, the midline Z1 and top line is Z1 platinum. .

[Dandy]

We purchased our first wake boat last year, a 2013 Z1. Truth be told, we looked long and hard at the R20 (work with same dealer as boardman) on paper while we were reviewing things after the boat show. We thought about the RZR, but did like the simplicity of the gauges & switches. As soon as we go onto the dealer floor and stepped into the other boats, it was an easy choice to go to the bigger boat simply due to the extra room and width. We felt the walkway in the R20 was too narrow and it didn't feel much larger in the cabin than our 18' I/O. I will tell you that if there had been a "R22" or something similar with the CVX available we would have gone that way. We work in agriculture and hear alot of complaints from operators of the new equipment how costly things are to repair and frustrations with the touch screens and software when they break down. For me, there is value to be able to take a multimeter and test switches/components and be able to replace with non OEM component if needed to get through the weekend. "Computers are great...when they work", how often is that heard. For us, we are in our boat due to size, not all do to features - just don't take away our surf bimini!

[JohnnieMo]

If there was a budget R22 available I'd likely have one right now. But since there wasn't I'm now in a Z1. The point is, by not having that option Tigé effectively upsold me. I'm sure they aren't upset about that.

[supremedevice]

Sounds like nobody here thinks an R22 would be bad business for Tige, including myself. No doubt they have tossed around this idea, so there has to be some sort of reasoning against it? Here is one theory:

Tige has gone through a lot of improvements in the past few years and perhaps they are still in the process of ramping up their game to shoot for the top. They have a lot of momentum right now and maybe “cheapening” some of their line is not top of mind and may even be seen as counterproductive to their vision. After all they seem to be doing great with it. No doubt they put a lot of money and resources on the line with the Apex series and perhaps it will replace the RZs some day. Maybe then will they see there is room for an “R” series. Just a thought.

I think the R20 has it’s purpose of being an attainable gateway for new buyers, young buyers, and the outboard/io crowd to finally enter the inboard world. After that, you never go back. And by then hopefully you’ll be making more money!

[Timmy!]

You can order the boat with a standard tube tower. When I was at the factory in September, they were buidling a brand new RZ2 with the Z series tower like '08-'09 had. I don't know the cost difference but maybe it's cheaper?

[Ewok]

I just thought of a better naming convention for all the boats. R series is the traditional dash with switches, RZ is with the Tige Touch and "nicer" features, and of course there would be the Apex series, hopefully an ASR1/ASR3(current ASR)/and possibly an ASR5 for the 25'?

Old Name => New Name
R20 => R20
RZR => RZ0 (pronounced :Ahr Zero? I'm still thinking the best way to pronounce/market that name to fit with the other names)
Z1 => R21 (new model with regular switches)
Z1 => RZ1 (Current Z1 model)
RZ2 => R22 (with regular switches)
RZ2 => RZ2 (current RZ2 model)
Z3 => R23 (Z3 with regular switches)
Z3 => RZ3 (current Z3 model)
RZ4 => R24 (RZ4 with regular switches)
RZ4 => RZ4 (current RZ4 model)

[Timmy!]

I think the 25' Apex is called the ASX.