Got the New Lund Today

[gunflint]

The new Lund catalog that is. They sure are pretty. It's to bad you have to rig it with one of those ugly black things in the back. I guess when I do get a new boat It'll be an Alumicraft. I like the gray motors better.

[Fishing Junky]

I bought a new lund this past October and put a Honda on it.

[anchor man]

no no no, gotta be a Lund with that steel blue Yammy on it.

I looked at the 2007 lineup online and didn't see the Fisherman anywhere. Did they discontinue it? anyone know why?

[iffwalleyes]

Quote:

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no no no, gotta be a Lund with that steel blue Yammy on it.

I looked at the 2007 lineup online and didn't see the Fisherman anywhere. Did they discontinue it? anyone know why?

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Yes they did. I just found out about this this weekend myself. It sounds like Lund are doing away with some of the more economy series boats. They are sticking with more high end the Tyee's, Prov's, etc. I don't see the logic with it at all. As a matter of fact Crystal Pierz marine will not even be carrying lunds anymore. Chrestliners only at there locations. Oh well glad I got a lund last year.

[JohnMickish]

It's not that CP won't carry Lunds, it's they can't carry them. Lund pulled their franchise. From what I have been told CP is now the sole Crestliner dealer in MN. Good luck with that.

[Shorelunch]

Actually, I just ordered a new Lund with an Evinrude E-Tec . In talking to a few dealers and an Evinrude rep, the only cost difference was the extra price of the E-Tec over other motors. I've heard that Evinrude is offering dealers incentives and will pay for re-rigging to ensure that you can put a blue/white motor on the hull.

I'm not sure what Yammy and Suzy are doing. There's nothing wrong with the Opti, though.

Lund did discontinue the Fisherman in '07. I had one for three years and sold it this fall. It was a very good boat. Now, you have to step up to a Tyee (which are beautiful boats) or step down to a Sport Angler. Alumacraft is doing the same type of things. For example, you can't buy an 18 foot Navigator or Dominator, you have to step up to a Tournament series boat, which of course, cost more.

[DinkADunk]

Yep, they killed off the Fisherman. Well not really, they just added an extra color on the seat piping, and relabled the 1700 and 1800 Fisherman's Tyee's. Oh yeah and raised the price 3-5K. They also replaced the starboard rod locker door with a cheap, real thin, plastic door that will probably break within a few weeks of ownership.

[bassNspear]

Quote:

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It's not that CP

won't

carry Lunds, it's they

can't

carry them. Lund pulled their franchise. From what I have been told CP is now the sole Crestliner dealer in MN. Good luck with that.

---

You have it all wrong there bro. CP had to choose on wither they wanted Lunds or Crestliners. They were the top selling dealer on both of them with the 10 stores that they have selling. They had to made up there mind on ither the Lunds or Crestliners. THey choose lunds for a number of reason, Crestliner is alot more towards the Family/Fishing, where lund is towards mostly fishing. Also, its alot harded to sell lunds when there price is alot higher. Yes they are both great boats, but it only make since to sell a Family/Fishing boat, then just fishing.

[JohnMickish]

I was just passing on the info I got from another Lund dealer, who now picked up a Lund dealership because of the deal. I don't know who to believe but I do know my next boat won't be either (to many dealership games).

[bassNspear]

Just wanted to clear things up thats all.

[NELS-BELLS]

I heard the same thing from a store manager at a C/P Marine, that Bass n Spear said. C/P marine was told by Brunswick that they had to make a choice, so they decided to go with Crestliner.

I was also told that you can order certain model Crestliners (not all) without a motor and put whatever kind you want on it as long as the dealer can get them, but you will have to pay the difference and Brunswick offers a much lower cost for a Mercury.

I don't know how a company like Brunswick could be so clueless about what the market wants. They do have a bad reputation for running companies into the ground. I hope Crestliner and Lund don't become one of them.

Erwin - if you read this...please buy Lund and Crestliner back before its too late .

Nels

[Down Deep]

I've been shopping for a new Lund and the dealers tell me that the Mercs are going to be offered on the factory package deals. I can still get a rice burner if I want to with no additional rigging charge. Mercury is a great motor. I think they control about 90% of the US market. I remember back in the early 1980's that OMC owned the market in northern MN and Yamaha released a 15 horse motor. After several years when we started seeing more and more of them they really caught on. In 1991 when Honda put out the first 45 hp fourstrokes my buddy and I couldn't wait to get on on the back of our Rebels. I would imagine that after a few years when we start seeing more and more Mercs on the Lunds they too will gain market share and might even look pretty good on the back.

[marine_man]

Quote:

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THey choose lunds for a number of reason

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You mean crestliner here, don't you? Crystal - Pierz is selling Crestliners now.. not lunds.

marine_man

[bassNspear]

Yes CP is selling lunds, and from what i have heard, there selling a ton of them. Great quality, and a cheaper price tag.

[fishlakeman]

Bass,

you are mistaken. Crystal Piertz sells only Crestliners now, not Lund's. It's possible that have last years stock for sale at discounted prices, but their brand is now Crestliner. I talked with the manager at the Fargo CP just last week, and he gave me the similar Brunswick story presented. I will say that the Fargo CP is a class act dealer, and I'm sad to see they no longer carry my brand. I do understand their position, and it does make sense business wise. I just hope Brunswick doesn't sink both Lund and Crestliner, as it seems to me they haven't been making the brightest of decisions as of late. Hopefully things will turn around for these MN companies.

[Jim Almquist]

AMF bought Harley back in the late 60s or early 70s and almost put them out of business and AMF was a division of Brunswick. That was when they all leaked oil it seemed. I am glad I got my Lund now cause they Quality is sure to slide a little bit.

[NELS-BELLS]

AMF also owned Crestliner and almost ran it into the ground. I'm not sure if Genmar bought Crestliner from AMF (Brunswick) or if there was another owner in between, but Genmar obviously turned Crestliner around and sold it back to them for a cool profit. The good news is that the Crestliner employees in Little Falls know how to build a good boat. The best of luck to them.

I own a Crestliner and I am hoping to buy another one this year. Hopefully with anything but a Mercury.

Nels

[bassNspear]

Correct, they are not selling lunds anymore. I wrote that wrong.

[Black_Bay]

Brunswick and AMF were competitors. I can't find in the history of either that they were ever linked.

[gunflint]

Here's a letter posted by Irwin Jacobs that might answer some questions.

I am outlining some of my thoughts and candid views regarding the recreational wholesale and retail boating market in conjunction with what I believe is going to create both several opportunities as well as some very difficult times for certain boat manufacturers and dealers in the recreational boating market in 2007 and beyond.

Although the recreational boating industry has not been exactly robust over the past two years, there surely has proven to be several independent boat manufacturers and dealers who have been able to more than hold their own and in several cases certain manufacturers and their dealers have even grown their businesses in spite of the fact that the market overall has been flat to down.

I believe that Brunswick’s acquisition binge of several boat companies over the past three to four years has up till now proven to be nothing short of a disaster for Brunswick. Based on the public information available both from Brunswick itself and from Statistical Surveys, I don’t believe there is a single boat company that Brunswick has purchased over those three to four years that are better off today than they were at the time that Brunswick purchased them. In fact, most of them, if not all of them, have continued to substantially lose market share and business far in excess of the overall difficult market conditions.

I further believe that Brunswick’s poor timing of being extremely aggressive in purchasing the boat companies they acquired over the past three to four years is going to offer several of the well-run independent boat builders and their dealers a golden opportunity to grow their businesses in 2007 and beyond at the expense of Brunswick, even if the retail recreational boat market continues to show little or no growth in 2007 and beyond.

The fact that the independent boat builders and their dealers have the flexibility to offer the retail customer their choice of engines, I believe that it in itself is enough to take market share from Brunswick’s boat companies. Whereas Brunswick offers, for the most part, only their Mercury engine products and the fact is by their own admission, Mercury has outright lost market share for their engines over the past several years in the U.S.

A further fact, I believe, is that Brunswick’s overall strategy to become a vertically integrated marine company is flawed for the simple reason that in order for Brunswick Boat Companies and their Mercury Engine Company to grow they cannot do it without the support of the independent boat builders (their competition) and their dealers.

Therefore, my conclusion is simple “why would any competitor of Brunswick’s want to help them grow there businesses at the same time that Brunswick is competing against them every day in the recreational boating business?”

I believe the answer is quite simple and I predict that Brunswick is going to continue to lose market share and businesses both in the boat and engine business to the well-run independent boat manufacturers and their dealers who compete with Brunswick Boat and Engine Company. In other words, even with a continued difficult boating market I believe there is going to be a lot of business out there for the taking.

Irwin L. Jacobs

Chairman and CEO, Genmar Holdings

[Black_Bay]

Yea Irwin "Irv the Liquidator Jacobs. He's just trying to push the brands HE sells plain and simple. He's hurting from the downturn in the boat market just like everybody so he's trying to push his lines. A few years back he cried about PWC's ruining the lakes. Well gee golly tell us the truth Irwin. The only reason he was whining was because people were buying PWC's instead of boats and he wasn't getting a piece of that market. Then he whined about Mercury when they claimed Japanese manufacturers were dumping outboards. The only thing he cares about is $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$. If he gave a rats rear about Lund and Crestliner he never would have sold them to Brunswick in the first place.

[iffwalleyes]

Well sure he is about making money and I beat he made a killing off of it. However it would be very tough to see a company that you ran and ran very successfully fall apart because of mismanagment and poor decision and that is what brunswick appears to be doing. I love Lund Boats but I don't know that I would buy one with current situation and I know several others are thinking the same thing. I don't want to be told what motor and electronics can go on my boat. I want to chose my own stuff. But I bet someday Erwin will get Lund back at a much lower price than he sold it for and then they can rebuilt it.

[Black_Bay]

Someone better call Lund and tell them that they're falling apart and the company needs to be rebuilt. Where is this coming from? I've seen that their profits are down, but so is the entire industry. People aren't buying as many boats as they did in the past, period. Lund and Crestiner will both be just fine.

[gunflint]

I thought that I read somewhere that Alumacraft's profits were up. Or was that just that their sales were increased while Lunds and Crestlinerswere down?

[Rost]

An Alumcraft Rep at a boat show last year told me Alumcraft sales were up 10%.

[bassNspear]

of course they are, and so is crestliner. Lund boats are pricing themselves out of the market. Its pretty bad when you can get the same set up on a crestliner, same length and equipment, and the Lund is 6,000 more. At this day in age, with the economy so bad, people are not going to pay that money.

Just my opinion. Not sure what others feel.