Luhrs Stops Production

[jimmcgee]

Luhrs Marine Group Stops Production

Luhrs Marine Group - the builder of Silverton, Luhrs, Mainship and Ovation boats - went into shutdown mode beginning Monday, the company confirmed to Soundings Trade Only.

The Millville, N.J.-based company said in a message to its dealers that it would shut down production for 60 to 90 days to allow boat orders to accumulate in its pipeline.

“As everyone will agree, we have all been affected in some way or another by these hard economic times the past three years,” the company said. “We have fought hard to avoid this decision, but it is the best solution to the current state of affairs.”

The company told its dealers, “We hope you will continue to promote our products and keep in touch with our sales team so that with your help we can again start producing the excellent products of the Luhrs Marine Group.”

The shutdown does not impact Florida-based Hunter Marine Corp., which is still in production.

From Soundings Trade Only Today
Luhrs Marine Group stops production

 

[Rick D]

Wow, that's too bad. Mainship is (was) a nice line of boats. I suspect that will reduce the purchasing power of Hunter, but may give them more flexibility too. Not sure what Hunter's structure is like. Part of Luhrs Group, but they always say 'employee owned". Anyhow, all the recreational marine producers and suppliers have taken big haircuts and gone out or way downsized, so I guess this isn't a big surprise. Still, it's hard to come back after a shutdown but it's likely a lot easier than after one of the bankruptcy chapters. Chatting with a broker I have known for 25 years, he commented that after 40 years in the business, this was by far the deepest and longest hit to the marine industry he's experienced.

 

[efhughes3]

Compare this to all of the high end sailboats being introduced these days, and presumably selling, and it tells you the "middle class" is still challenged in the US.

 

[ggrizzard]

This reality may improve the re-sale price of used boats.:dance:

 

[Crazy Dave Condon]

From a retired Hunter dealer

It was a very difficult decision for the Luhrs Group to stop production of the power side primarily temporarily laying off employees but without orders, there was nothing else to do. At least it is temporary and they did not go into either Chapter 7 or 11 says alot about a corporation who is dedicated to employees, customers and vendors.

On the good note, Hunter Marine (sailboat arm) is still in production. They are doing what they can to remain open

I had heard in the maine industry, there use to be 3800 dealers to include power and sail but it is down to appx. 1850 now and there may be more to fall out. I was one dealer included in the fallout.

Crazy Dave Condon

 

[RichH]

This reality may improve the re-sale price of used boats.:dance:

Thats very doubtful as disposable income is now consumed either by reduced income, the beginnings of rampant inflation or a greater 'share' of one's income being paid in taxes.

 

[Rick D]

Here's hoping Hunter doesn't go into full retreat since that's a death spiral. When a company is in the situation faced by so many in the industry, the temptation is to pare back advertising, marketing & promotion. That's a guarantee fewer buyers will show up at the door. Look at the advertising Benneteau & Jeannea do for comparison. I do think building the Gemini cats is a good start at diversification. They ought to buy in to it and expand the line. Catalina once tried a trawler. It was no huge success but at least they tried something. You probably notice their close association with the tug/trawler line now.

 

[Gunni]

Who would have thought that a business predicated on mass producing a recreational device which consumes +25 gph of petroleum would not be sustainable? Everytime I see some guy at the fuel dock drop $1,000 worth of fuel into his powerboat for some weekend fun, I shake my head.

 

[Sandy Stone]

Yep, last fall my wife and I took a trip out to one of the barrier islands for a couple of days, about 50 miles each way. We had a good time, and our neighbor across the canal decided to try the same thing on his 30+ foot twin gas engine cabin cruiser. When he said it cost him $850 in fuel I almost dropped my drink.

 

[jimmcgee]

I for one am hoping Hunter is able to stay afloat. Whether you like their designs or don't they introduce new ideas and they sell a lot of boats. A healthy sailing industry helps us all.

Who would have thought that a business predicated on mass producing a recreational device which consumes +25 gph of petroleum would not be sustainable? Everytime I see some guy at the fuel dock drop $1,000 worth of fuel into his powerboat for some weekend fun, I shake my head.

That lifestyle made sense for a lot of people at $1.50-$2/gal. Fuel prices and a dramatic increase in cost of living have changed the rules.

I wouldn't be so quick to throw stones at the power boaters this time. The owner of our marina was joking with me about the difference in revenues between sail and power. Those power boats drop a LOT of money on fuel and repairs. Sailors spend little on fuel and we tend to do a lot more of our own repairs. Marinas need the revenue from those big boats to stay profitable.

Without them we're all in trouble.

 

[shemandr]

ummmmm

 

[Steve Dion]

The powerboat industry needs to prepare for a major downturn (again) with fuel prices for gas in the $4.25/gal (street price) this summer.

We need to get the pres and congress together on getting that pipeline built from Canada. I have heard that if this were to happen that they (whoever they are) anticipate that gas would be down to the $2.50/gal price. Diesel in No. Nevada is going just short of $4/gal at this time with reg. grade gasoline in the $3.70/gal range.

I really don't care much about the cost of fuel for my boat, but the cost for my trip from No. Nevada to Rio Vista run about $70/round trip (340 miles).

 

[CPseudonym]

The owner of our marina was joking with me about the difference in revenues between sail and power. Those power boats drop a LOT of money on fuel and repairs. Sailors spend little on fuel and we tend to do a lot more of our own repairs. Marinas need the revenue from those big boats to stay profitable.

Without them we're all in trouble.

The marina owners and managers I talk to where not joking about it at all. They are dead serious, power boaters proportionately DO drop a LOT more money in those places than sail boaters do. Municipal marinas with partial funding from cities/counties will do well but privately funded marinas are another animal entirely.

Power boaters are far more likely to have the yard handle things the typical sail boat crowd doesn't think twice about handling themselves. As a power and sailboat owner I can tell you that sailors are a far more self sufficient crowd of people entirely. Not a bad thing mind you, just a fact that has dollar signs in a yard owners ledger sheet behind it.

 

[rpwillia]

The thread "Boat fees in Md."

Think about the repercussions states like Maryland and all the other states are causing to the industry looking for boaters to add more revenue. http://forums.sbo.sailboatowners.com/showthread.php?t=138133

What do these bureaucrats say when another business closes down?

 

[relentless lily]

We heard rumor yesterday that Luhrs has filed Chapter 7. We are not sure as to the worthiness of this statement. So we did a search of this site to find out as to whether it has any merit.

 

[Rick D]

Nothing More Than Production Stop

We heard rumor yesterday that Luhrs has filed Chapter 7. We are not sure as to the worthiness of this statement. So we did a search of this site to find out as to whether it has any merit.

I checked around to see if there had been a filing, but found nothing more than the production shut down.

 

[alexco38]

Just watch the cost of slip goes up because there are fewer power boaters. Sailor should be more accommodating to the power boater. They help lower our cost. BTW I never tease them.

 

[Crazy Dave Condon]

So many people are rushing in to say Luhrs group has filed for protection under bankruptcy and that is far from the truth as I know it. It was a buiness decisiuon to temporarily halt production to allow the pipeline of new boats to be reduced as boats are not selling well due to economic times.

Everyone now is jumping on the bandwagon as for new drilling and pipelines. That is not going to solve the issue. If all countries led by the US would enact legislation to stop the speculators who by the way are the ones driving up the costs from speculating, I know the price of oil and gas would come back down. Sometimes I think we have gone to far to allow speculators to ruin our lives.

crazy dave condon

 

[captainpat]

For whatever it's worth, during my visit to the Hunter production facility llast month I saw 2 encouraging indicators. First, the new 33, which won boat of the year, is apparently quite successful and is selling at a decent pace. I saw several 33’s in various stages of completion and was told that weekly production was at a good steady pace. Second, Hunter apparently has some sort of arrangement with Gemini Catamarans. I saw several in the production line and they have a complete set of molds. I was told that Hunter has made some design & quality improvements in the boat, which would seem to indicate that the relationship is more then casual.

 

[robertsapp]

Try that argument with any other commodity and see if it makes sense.

We don't have enough drinking water for our town and my water bill is sky high, but drilling more water wells will not solve our problem!

We have a worldwide shortage of salt and the price is constantly going up, but you're crazy if you think opening more salt mines is the answer!

People are starving in West Virginia and bread is ten dollars a loaf, but no one in their right mind thinks growing more wheat is the solution.

Crazy, right? Of COURSE more drilling (i.e. more supply) would lower prices. That's the fundamental basis of how a free economy works. If there isn't much of something that people want a lot of, its price goes up. If there's more of something than people want or can use, its price goes down. 'Speculators' don't set the price, the market does. But most people are ignorant of economics, and thus easy to manipulate.

So I'm guessing this thread is now off to the war room.