Soundings Trade Only Magazine

®

OUR CORPORATE PROFILE SECTION PGS. 22-43

INSIDE: The U.S. presence at METS, the big Amsterdam trade show, continues to grow. pgs. 20-21.

$5.00

www.tradeonlytoday.com

THE BOATING BUSINESS NEWSPAPER VOL. XLII, NO. ⁷ JANUARY 2006

New Brunswick boss makes

A question and answer interview with Dusty McCoy Pgs. 12-13.

a po

sitive first impression

Retailers, analysts like the company’s selection

of ‘Dusty’ McCoy as George Buckley successor

A surprise change in command at the nation’s largest boat and engine builder appears to have been taken in stride by both the industry and Wall Street.

“While we are surprised and slightly disappointed by George Buckley’s resignation, we are encouraged by Dustan McCoy’s track “record at the company,” said Merrill Lynch, summing up a generally nonchalant Wall Street reaction to the change.

Buckley’s departure to head up the much larger 3M operation was announced by Brunswick Dec. 7, along with news that the company board had elected McCoy to succeed him as president, chairman and chief executive officer.

The change could even mean a better rela-

tionship for boat and engine dealers with the big manufacturer, says Phil Keeter, president of the National Marine Manufacturers Association, pointing to McCoy’s history as president of the Boat Group.

“Dusty has been very good about working with the retail side,” said Keeter. “I couldn’t be happier with Dusty being the head of Brunswick. In Dusty’s eyes, dealers aren’t chattel but an integral part [of the industry].”

Staying the course

The financial analysts who offered reactions to the change said they expected no dramatic shifts in direction under McCoy, who is considered to be on the same page as

continued on Page 11

Industry leaders are bullish on 2006

Interest rates have come off their historic lows, the economy took a beating from hurricanes and other forms of bad weather, and fuel prices remain a source of concern. Yet industry leaders are surprisingly optimistic for the boat business going into 2006.

Some who contributed to our 2006 outlook session (Pages 56-61) expect growth to moderate, but almost all agree the three-year up cycle will continue. They say the public is adjusting to higher fuel prices, consumer confidence is rebounding and unemployment is falling.

“Sure we will see $3 gasoline again in the spring,” says National Marine Manufacturers Association president Thom Dammrich. “But energy has become an increasingly smaller

and less significant part of our total spending.”

Dammrich also expects growth in the overall economy to moderate, but he and many others expect the industry to get a significant boost early in the year from the Grow Boating Initiative.

Yamaha president Phil Dyskow sees the economy slowing from a growth rate of 4. 3 percent this year to around 3 percent next year. As for his own company,“We believe we’re going to see growth,” says Dyskow. “We think we’re positioned well.

At Brunswick Corp., the nation’s largest boat and engine manufacturer, new chairman and CEO Dustan McCoy also predicts a growth year. But he, too, cautions that it may not be “at the same rate we’ve seen.” At

Brunswick’s biggest boatbuilding rival, Genmar Industries, chairman Irwin Jacobs says he expects interest rates to level off soon. And while he expects Genmar to do well, he says increased competition could result in shrinking margins for some.

National Marine Bankers Association president Donald C. Parkhurst worries about the impact of hurricanes on insurance rates and the marina infrastructure. Auto industry layoffs are also going to affect sales in the Midwest, he warns. But Parkhurst also sees “light at the end of the tunnel,” based on fuel price stabilization, rising consumer confidence and the Grow Boating impact.