CHALLENGE Marine this week became Western Australia’s exclusive distributor of a range of luxury boats after reaching an agreement with national watercraft importer, Avante Marine.
CHALLENGE Marine this week became Western Australia’s exclusive distributor of a range of luxury boats after reaching an agreement with national watercraft importer, Avante Marine.
The agreement follows the collapse of Avante’s previous independent retailer, Indian Distributors, in Belmont, which was trading under Avante’s name before going into receivership last December.
Avante temporarily operated the Belmont outlet after Indian folded.
“We stepped in and opened a dealership there as a transition step to finding an alternative dealer,” Avante Marine manager Ken Allen told WA Business News.
“We opened the doors as Avante Marine. We allowed ourselves up to six months to keep supporting the customers and the market and finding a new dealer.”
Mr Allen said while he was not privy to the internal operations of Indian Distributors, he believed it was the global financial crisis that forced the company to close its doors.
“They were placed in receivership. The marine industry did suffer in the last couple of years, there has been a decline in sales; we see signs of that all turning around now but I think Indian Distributors Australia just had some issues coping with that,” he said.
“A lot of people have been reluctant to spend discretionary money on what they see as luxuries. A boat is a little bit like a luxury car.”
Mr Allen was confident that cautious approach would change, having seen some uplift in the luxury boat industry in recent months.
“Throughout Australia we are starting to see some uplift through the market. We think the whole industry will be on an uptick across the future,” he said.
Challenge Marine was identified as the best dealer to be offered the exclusive rights to the Bayliner, Trophy and Meridian branded boats and was officially appointed as an independent dealer of the brands last Monday, Mr Allen said.
Challenge Marine and Mandurah Outboards managing director, Karen Jackman, said the two separate entities merged in April this year.
The merger was part of a “branch rationalisation plan”, which sought to bring the successful components of each business together while lowering operational costs for the businesses.
“In combining those two we have the best of everything, the range of sales and quality and now the service and accessories,” she said.
The Avante Marine site in Belmont will be closed as soon as the remaining Indian Distributors stock is distributed between Challenge Marine’s Balcatta and Mandurah locations.
Avante Marine owns the site and plans to redevelop it, however Mr Allen was reluctant to detail the redevelopment.