Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/817056
www.BoatingIndustry.com 36 | Boating Industry | May 2017 BY BRIANNA LIESTMAN A s the economy and the marine industry have improved over the past few years, the floorplan financing market has followed suit. Banks are lending more as dealers are looking to stock more boats to meet consumer demand, which is causing dealers to experience high turn rates. "Growth in the marine industry has been great the past few years and inventory turn is the strongest I've ever seen," said Russell Baqir, senior vice president of business development at Northpoint Commercial Finance. "We see lower age inventory and a better-turning portfolio." Higher-turning products in the market are being stocked heavier in the fall and winter and flowing through the sales channel more quickly, and low-turn, high-margin product is being stocked at a "healthy level," said Baqir. This provides a cost savings to the dealer and increases their cash flow. Last summer dealers spoke of experiencing rapid inventory turn, to the point where manu- facturers couldn't send new inventory fast enough. At the boat shows in the fall/winter, many dealers were displaying sold units. "I have never seen a season like we did last year. Our portfolio liquidated in marine in double BIGGER, BETTER, FASTER Dealers add more boats, seek larger lines of credit from floorplan financing digits in November and December. I've never in my career … seen a consistent liquidation go all the way through the fall. Basically, what it created was an atmosphere where the deal- ers were going to shows and they didn't have stock," said Baqir. "And so the manufacturers are having to heat up and drive as fast as they could all the way through fall and winter. The dealer profits we should be seeing from 2016, I would be shocked if it's not at levels we've never seen before." The natural step when inventory turns are high is for dealers to apply for larger lines of credit in floorplan financing, which is exactly "THE TREND TOWARD BIGGER BOATS AND BIGGER FACILITIES HAS MEANT THAT WE NEEDED TO RESPOND WITH LARGER CREDIT LINES." — Bruce Van Wagoner, president of the Wells Fargo CDF Marine Group PHOTO CREDIT: ©ISTOCK.COM/NOMADSOUL1