February Boat Sales Continue to Climb

The recreational boat industry followed a strong January with growth yet again in February, led by a 12 percent increase in outboard-powered fiberglass boat sales, putting sales for the year about 1 percent ahead of 2016, according to Trade Only Today.

Powerboat sales increased 3.7 percent to 5,119 and rose 4.4 percent across the industry to 7,202 from last February in 26 states that comprise about 59 percent of the country’s boat market.

“It was a good month,” said Ryan Kloppe, Statistical Surveys’ sales director. “Florida was up, Texas was up, North Carolina was up. All signs point to moderate growth.”

In the main segments, sales increased 8 percent, and industrywide, they rose 9.5 percent in January. For February, sales rose 6 percent in the main segments, at 9,923 and 6.6 percent industrywide at 13,900.

Industry sales across all 50 states rose 5.7 percent in the main segments and 5.4 percent industrywide last year as the industry sold 258,879 boats, the highest number since 2008.

For the month, Florida had the most sales, with 1,943 (up from 1,763 last February) and Texas came in second at 1,405 (up from 1,377). Those were the only two states that saw sales of more than 1,000 boats in February.