So as not to completly de-rail the V305 thread, I thought I would share some comments, quotes that
were very recently stated in an article published in IBI market report w/regards to FW and Project Boat
Holdings (their new owners). I'm a bit concerned over what I read, see what you guys think.
Some background:
Platinum Equity (Project Boat Holdings)acquired the brands from Genmar's bankruptcy.
Project Boat Holdings became Project Fish Holdings (Ranger, Stratos and Triton) and Project Rec Holdings (Four Winns, Wellcraft and Glastron).
During the 2009 bankruptcy, Genmar’s production was cut back to a bare minimum as the company awaited its fate.
Through the first six months of 2008, for instance, Ranger had sold 2,874 units at retail. A year later, that number had dropped to 1,808, and for the first half of 2010, the number had declined to 1,562. Four Winns, which sold 1,425 retail units in the first two quarters of 2008, saw its first-half numbers drop to 606 units in 2010. The retail numbers are a sober reminder that the brands continue to face hard times.
Roch Lambert was brought in by PE to run the newly acquired business. A huge task for him.
Quote: Lambert also had more than production to salvage during the startup phase. The dealer networks, which were in limbo during the bankruptcy sale, were unsure what the new company would look like. Some complained about a marked lack of communication from the company during both the bankruptcy and post-bankruptcy phases. Saying that he wanted to eliminate a layer of management, Lambert sacked two longtime Four Winns executives, Jeff Olson and Rick Fulmer several months after arriving. Lambert says his recreational brands didn’t lose any dealers “of any significance” because of the Genmar bankruptcy. One also gets the impression that Glastron is the new darling of the division, rather than Four Winns, which saw its sales rise during Olson’s tenure as president
Lots to digest, I know. But I am concerned about several of Mr. Lamberts statements regarding dealers, and the position of Four Winns in the big picture. Four Winns will be around for a long time, but it sure seems to be going in a much different direction than I had hoped. For better or worse, former Genmar CEO Irwin Jacobs once said " I intend for Four Winns to be at a higher level of quality and sales than Sea Ray in the near future"
At least for now, it seems that Four Winns may never want to reach that level. Thoughts? Comments ?
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