Concentrations and investment in concessions
The beginning of the year saw several important dealerships change hands the acquisition of HD Marine by the Euro-voiles Riviera Plaisance group in January 2023. The same month, arrived in the sector of the sale of boats, the Ancel group, active in the high-end automotive industry, which bought the Force 5 dealership in Vendée from the Nadia group, former owner of the Nicols shipyard. For its part, the RCM group is constantly expanding its marine activity, by coupling heavy investments in its dealerships, whose network is expanding, with the importation of brands with Azimut and Highfield.
A changing boat sales model?
The existence of large players is not a common feature of French boating, which is rather more fragmented than other European yachting markets. The unfortunate experience of groups such as Chemins d'Ocean has tended to cool the ardor.
The discourse today is to be inspired by the automobile to improve services and the perceived image of the dealerships, the budget of a boat being often comparable to a high-end vehicle. But is a boat a car like any other? If our sailboats and motorboats are more and more connected and instrumented, their manufacturing and maintenance remain more artisanal. Therefore, are the models linked to the volume of the automobile transposable?
Will manufacturers, which are small in size, even the largest ones, be able to easily accept dealing with distributors with almost similar sales, if we take their automotive and marine activities together?
Observers will be watching this development closely.
