I have preached this sermon for many years in my columns. I have been pleased to see that several boat builders have announced their intentions to introduce 2011 models this fall instead of during the summer. What triggered me to write about this subject again was an article in one of the trade magazines recent enews where the author stated that, “To be fair, you should know that boat manufacturers started introducing new boats in the middle of summer at the request of the dealers.” Huh? He must have heard this from some boat manufacturers! He sure didn’t hear this from any of the countless dealers I have talked to over the years about summer new model intros. They have opposed it from the git-go.

I have been involved in sales and marketing in the boating industry for over 50 years and during that time have called on and worked with hundreds and hundreds of dealers. For many years in my career, new boat and motor models were introduced at the New York Boat show in January…then years later at the big fall trade show called IMTEC. Why then did summer new model introductions start? Continue reading Introduce new products in September! →