CANT A LONG ESTABLISHED, INNOVATIVE, OR NICHE COMPANY SURVIVE?
It will be challenging. Just as few could have foreseen the degree of industry change since 1986, there is little reason to believe that the pace of such change will slacken. In addition to the boat-building operations of Brunswick and Yamaha, the newly expanded Genmar, with favorable ties to the power companies, will further flex its muscles. Other major independents such as Tracker have long-standing ties with power companies, which place smaller companies at a competitive disadvantage, while adding to the collective industry control by the power companies. Perhaps, even more of a challenge will be the emerging relationships between Brunswick, Genmar, and Tracker and major retailers in which they have a monetary or preferential relationship. If access to the buying public becomes restricted to the independent builder, production competitiveness may be somewhat irrelevant. In order to combat this, UMMA has launched its own initiative in the form of United Marine Retailers Association
