PWC sales up four straight months

Late winter sales momentum fed into the summer boating season, boosting powerboat sales growth across the Bellwether states into the double digits from July through September, according to the latest report on new U.S. boat registrations from Info-Link Technologies. A full summary can be viewed here: Info-Link Technologies Bellwether Report.

Sales of personal watercraft among the Bellwether states have sat near 5 percent growth year-over-year for three straight months after bottoming out in May. Sales climbed slightly in September over August, up 1 percentage point to 5.8 percent year-over-year growth for the month.

Among all states, sales of PWCs have grown for the first month since 2007. The sales decline had been easing since the past winter and finally broke into positive territory in June, growing 2.5 percent during the month compared to the same period of last year.

Sales of 15-foot and greater powerboats for all states, which are being reported through June, were up 8.5 percent, a 2 percentage point increase over May and April. The decline bottomed out one year ago for all boating states, and has been steadily increasing year-over-year since then.