Roch Lambert’s key note address was the final presentation of the Boating Ontario Conference and Trade Show. Roch is currently Group President at Rec Boat Holdings, the parent company for brands such as Four Winns, Glastron and Wellcraft Boats. Using his past experience with Bombardier and BRP, Roch intends to revitalize these well-known brands.
At the conference, Roch shared with Ontario’s boating industry a lot of internal information; the global market shows a continual decrease in sales by 10% year after year due to the United States’ economic downturn. On the other hand, a 13% increase in sales for Rec Boat Holdings was shown in the Canadian market. The Boat Warehouse of Kingston was awarded the Four Winns’ Number 1 Dealer Worldwide.
Despite Canada’s increase in sales, Roch anticipates further detriment in the US economy expected to be seen by increasing mortgage foreclosures and continued decreasing housing values. In these hard times, new and more attractive boats are what will draw people back to these big names, so Rec Boat Holdings has been making positive changes in the manufacturing process and setting high, but attainable goals in the amount of new products. The 22 new products anticipated to be released within the next 18 months has Roch forecasting a relatively rapid increase in sales. This is despite the possible increase in purchase prices due to specific emissions control requirements.
Overall, Roch Lambert’s presentation was informative, insightful and enjoyed by all who attended. It was a great way to wrap-up Boating Ontario’s 2011 Annual Conference and Trade Show.