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42 | Boating Industry | May 2017 www.BoatingIndustry.com /// Market Trends /// "Boating is getting bigger, but not in the sense that everyone's out there buying 350s and 400s," said David Foulkes, vice president and chief technology offi cer at Mercury Marine parent Brunswick Corp. "The distribu- tion curve is defi nitely moving up. People who previ- ously would have bought a 60 are now buying a 75, for example, and people who would have bought a 90 in the past are now more likely to buy a 115. The overall volumes in that mid-range are still higher than for the very top end, but the whole curve is sliding upward. Our new 350 and 400 recognize that upward shift and pro- vide new options for those customers who would have previously bought a 250 or a 300." Steady growth in the saltwater fi shing segment has also driven demand for outboards, and in particular for the high-power units that carry the greatest margins. "Certainly we've seen signifi cant, sustained growth in that category," said Gus Blakely, vice president / division head at Suzuki. "Saltwater fi shing has become a huge market for large outboards, as boat builders keep upping the ante with 35-, 40- and 50-foot center consoles that do more than just fi sh. But in addition to that, or maybe because of it, more recently we're seeing the entire fi - berglass recreational boat market begin to rebound. It's coming back in a major way, and further driving out- "People don't buy boats and engines, they buy what those products represent." — Dennis Ashley, Honda Marine