Boat sales show bounce in January

The U.S. boatbuilding industry began 2012 much the way it ended the previous year, with strong sales gains in two aluminum boat categories and the largest category of fiberglass boats.

January sales in the high-volume 11- to 40-foot outboard fiberglass segment were up 14.4 percent, to 1,064 boats, from the same month in 2011, according to figures compiled by Aarn Rosen, national sales manager at Statistical Surveys Inc.

Sales of aluminum fishing boats rose 17.3 percent in January, to 861 boats, and sales of aluminum pontoons rose 20.6 percent, to 263 boats.

The double-digit increases helped to lift sales in the industry’s main powerboat segments by 10.5 percent for the month, to 2,599 boats, from January 2011. Those segments consist of aluminum fishing and pontoon boats, plus fiberglass boats in five segments that range from 11 to 99 feet.