John,
Here is some inside info on the XR.
This is only to clarify what I feel is Darris missing the boat on what I feel would help business, not hurt.
A few years ago a gentleman approached me with a deal to buy 10 XR2002s. He want me to go half with him and arranged a deal that we would get the first 10 no matter who( if other dealers wanted some too) ordered. The money was to be paid up front. That would be good for Allison as it would give them cash and keep the plant busy. We would finally make some money on selling boats and not the usual 5%. If you think about it Allison has had the mold (XR2002) and tooling paid for many years (or decades). No investment just make the boats and turn some product. The boats would need to be cost effective for us to sell so what do you think the price we were quoted was?
The target price I needed was about $14K with a trailer for a bare boat. This would allow us to sell them at a halfway reasonable price. The cost to produce the boat and trailer is roughly half of the $14K in materials/labor. The tooling is long paid for. The price....$18,500 no extras..a bare boat with a steering system and trailer. By the time you tack on freight, some colors and rigging, then a motor the whole project is so unrealistic it was a waste of time. Even if you add some mold prep and some new parts it doesn't add up.
Now I may sound like I'm bitching...well I am. The XR2002 is a 25 year old boat. Long paid for. I want to sell boats and make a living to better take care of my customer base. Allison calls me and asks what they can do to get us dealers to sell more product. What part doesn't read here? Just down the road Jim C. at Hydrostream sells me a Venom, trailer (tandem with brakes and every option) ready to go for little more than $13K. And he has to PAY for his new tooling. I know how much it costs to produce a SS2000, or a XR2002 or an XB2002. I know within a few hundred bucks. If they wanted to build the boats at a fair price they could, unfortunately that is not in the cards. The XB2002 will be just another boat that dies because it is over priced compared to other models in the line. It and the XR should be sold as "heritage" models without the 'frills' of the new boats. It would entice new Allison owners that can't afford the XB2003 or XB21 (SS2000, or Gran Sport). A $50,000 twenty foot boat (by the tme you rig and outfit it with a new outboard) is a VERY small market. A $30K entry level model will open up sales they don't have right now. I feel the company needs these buyers to survive. Sales are way lower than just 5 years ago. Like I said in a different post here, Triton build more boats in one day than Allison did all last year.
Now you know the story, and a little more on the marketing scheme of things. Sometimes things don't make much sense.
Randy
