The market situation for well-known boat manufacturers.
Describing the boat sales market is always complex.
There are many major players who are not listed on the stock exchange, such as the AZIMUT-BENETTI group.
A major player in the industry, Groupe Beneteau, has just published its revenues for the first quarter of 2025.
First of all, here are the Groupe Beneteau brands:
Beneteau (sail and power), Jeanneau (sail and power), Prestige, Lagoon, Delphia,
Four Winns, Scarab and Excess.
Revenues were down 43% year-on-year, with the company expecting the quarter to be the low point for 2025.
Groupe Beneteau has announced a slowdown in sales for the first quarter of 2025, with revenues of 130 million euros ($146 million), down 43% year-on-year. The company said it expected the quarter to be the low point of the year in terms of sales and profitability before a gradual recovery in the second half, supported by the launch of 20 new models.
“The macroeconomic environment, and in particular the uncertainty surrounding tariffs in the United States and their impact on the global economy, is reinforcing the wait-and-see attitude of our customers and distributors in the first half of this year, which is expected to be loss-making,” said CEO Bruno Thivoyon in a statement. “In this context, the group is focusing on three priorities: supporting and developing its distribution network, accelerating its product developments and continuing to adapt its cost structure in line with market trends.”
The company’s sailing segment experienced a marked slowdown in demand, particularly for multihulls. Sailing sales contracted by 51% over the quarter to 54.2 million euros ($60.9 million).
Motorboat sales to end customers fell by almost 19% during the quarter, linked in particular to a slowdown in demand for dayboats in Europe. For motoryachts, sales by the distribution network remained broadly stable compared with the first quarter of 2024, with the wait-and-see attitude observed in the United States offset by continued buoyant demand in the rest of the world, the press release states. Against this backdrop, sales in the motorboat business – the one most affected by changes in dealer inventories – fell by 37% to €70.5 million ($79.1 million).
In its outlook for the rest of the year, Groupe Beneteau said that while demand weakened in all boat markets, the uncertainty surrounding tariffs could delay the recovery of exports to the US and further intensify the slowdown in demand seen in Europe.
“Although it is still too early to assess the impact of this geopolitical context on revenue levels – expected at this stage to be between 900 million euros ($1 billion) and 1 billion euros ($1.12 billion) for the year – the group has decided to support its US distribution network by covering part of the customs duties on imports,” the company said. “These measures, which are intended to reduce the short-term impact of uncertainty linked to trade barriers on its customers’ demand, could affect the group’s current operating income by almost 10 million euros ($11.2 million) in 2025.”
Other manufacturers.
MASTERCRAFT reported a 9.5% decline in sales for Q3 2025.
MARINE PRODUCTS CORPORATION, the parent company of Chaparral and Robalo, published its first-quarter results for 2025. Net sales were down 15% year-on-year to $59 million. This decline was mainly due to a 19% drop in the number of boats sold, partially offset by a 4% increase in the price/mix ratio, the company said.
The YAMAHA brand has published its first-quarter results. Sales were down 1.2% year-on-year in the marine sector, due to lower sales of outboard motors and personal watercraft.
GARMIN’s navigation electronics brand Garmin also published its first-quarter results. Net sales in the marine segment were down 2% on the previous quarter.
And finally, to conclude these statistics, here are the results of the great BRUNSWICK company, published on April 25, for the first quarter of 2025.
Consolidated net sales amounted to $1.22 billion, down 11% year-on-year, with good performances in recurring revenue activities.
A major exception.
MARINEMAX, results for the second quarter of fiscal 2025
Sales for the second quarter of fiscal 2025 rose by 8.3% to $631.5 million, a new record, compared with $582.9 million for the same period last year. Sales growth was mainly driven by higher boat sales. On a same-store basis, sales rose by 11%, reflecting additional contributions from products and services, including finance and insurance, the Superyacht division, manufacturing and marinas.
MarineMax is delighted to have acquired the manufacturer CRUISERS YACHTS. This allows them to sell in a tariff-sheltered environment, and the range of boats offered is very comprehensive.
Also, the MALIBU brand reports a 12% increase in sales for its 3rd quarter of 2025. This is the exception in the industry.
IN BRIEF:
In general, sales are not on the rise, and this is true for many manufacturers. It has to be said that the tariffs imposed by Mr. Trump are partly responsible for these statistics.
A 10% tariff applies to everything imported into the U.S. from Europe and elsewhere. VOLVO diesel engines, for example, are included in these tariffs, as are YANMAR, MAN and MTU, and what can we say about everything from China (fittings and so on)? Of course, CUMMINS engines are built in the USA.
And here are just a few of the boat brands affected by these prices:
– Azimut
– Ferretti, Pershing, Riva
– Sunseeker
– Princess
– Absolute
– Galeon
– Prestige
– Beneteau and Jeanneau
– Sanlorenzo
– Lagoon
– Fontaine-Pajot
– Aquila (China, 30% tariff)
– Horizon (Taiwan, 32% tariff)
– Nordhavn (China, Taiwan and Turkey, 30 % or 32% or 10 %)
(Tariffs or Rates effective May 20, 2025)
For 2025, new boats are even more expensive than last year. Let’s hope these rates are only temporary.
But fortunately, the used boat market is not affected by the tariffs, and this market is clearly to the advantage of buyers.
What’s more, no punitive Canadian tariffs apply to boats, so buying a boat in the U.S. and bringing it back to Canada is no problem at all. In fact, the Free Trade Agreement is still in effect, at least until further notice.
Don’t hesitate to contact a broker at Ita Yachts Canada and its ProprioBateau division if you have any questions. Our office is in St-Jean-sur-Richelieu (Quebec, Canada).
www.propriobateau.ca for used boats for sale from $10,000 to $1.5 million
and http://www.itayachts.canada for yachts from $1.5 million (you’re already on this website, see the YACHTS FOR SALE tab).
This article used references from Trade Only Today.
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