Insight into Yamaha Dealer Allotment

[PRL_3]

Does anyone have any insight into what Yamaha dealerships refer to as their allotment?

My dealership wouldn’t let me order until the 22 model year release day (around August 17th). I rushed in and put a deposit down on a 210 FSH Sport. I’m roughly #4 on their wait list and maybe the first person to reserve a boat, but apparently that means nothing in terms of boats coming in.

Do dealerships actually get to request specific models? I ask because my dealership has received a few models that were not all ready pre-purchased. It seems from talking to my dealership that they have no clue when inventory is coming. It scares me to think that what I thought I was ordering may never actually make it to the dealership.

This seems weird to me as many other manufacturers (car and boat) allow dealers to track builds.

Any insight into this process would be helpful. TIA.

 

[DiggerPA]

My dealer told me how many of the 195s he was allotted, and how many had deposits. I wanted the Blue and was second on the list. His allotment of 5 black already all had deposits on them. That was around August 22. I was told it would be in sometime before April. Then I received a call the beginning of November saying the boat was being manufactured and to expect it early December. It arrived December 20th. Nice Christmas Present. So to me it sounds like the dealer knew when the boat in there allocation was actually being made? But what do I know.

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

You should probably read through this thread….

https://jetboaters.net/threads/deposit-for-2021-yamaha-and-still-waiting.29093/

All, repeat, ALL of the boat manf as well as other industries are riding the struggle bus as certain materials like fiber glass and resin are in short supply. Outboards are a year out on delivery right now. As well, a lot of people have decided they don’t want to work and are getting paid with tax payer money to sit home and watch bugs bunny while sucking on a fudgecicle ….

Im assuming you put your order in August of 21? Did your dealer give you any insight as to when your boat will be delivered?

 

[deubank1776]

We had a deposit down at a dealership that was top 10 dealer for Yamaha boats. They have only gotten one in so far. We found our exact boat 2 hours away instate. Thankfully they were able to sell to us. (Yamaha is very territorial) We speculate that where we were going to get our boat from is getting punished from Yamaha. If you want a boat soon. Keep your head on a swivel. Look for your boat within your state.

 

[Taylorman]

I put a deposit down recently and asked the dealer about this process. He said they request a certain number of boats at the beginning of the year. Yamaha will come back and tell them how many they will actually get for the year. He had a list of what boats were coming in for the rest of the year. If the boat we wanted wasn’t on the list or had a deposit on it already we would be SOL from that dealer.

As far as ETA all he could tell me is between now and June. That’s only because Yamaha switches model years at that time. And Yamaha doesn’t give updates on build status. The dealer finds out what coming when it ships. He also told me this is how Yamaha has always been. Some aspects are exacerbated by the pandemic, certainly, but Yamaha has always dictated allocation, not provided build ETA status, etc.

 

[Matt Phillips]

When I made a deal on mine (2017), the dealer in Feb said there's the black one on the floor, and two more blue ones coming in for the year: one in March, and another in May. I put $ in on the one in May as I didn't want to pick the boat up until about then anyway. So at that time, they knew how many they had for the year and the approx month they were getting them.

 

[Taylorman]

When I made a deal on mine (2017), the dealer in Feb said there's the black one on the floor, and two more blue ones coming in for the year: one in March, and another in May. I put $ in on the one in May as I didn't want to pick the boat up until about then anyway. So at that time, they knew how many they had for the year and the approx month they were getting them.

That tracks with what I was told in terms of being given a allocation for the year and general delivery schedule. Otherwise, Yamaha updates the dealer when the boats ship. The dealer said he heard there’s hundreds of boats built but missing a windshield or other part before they can finish and ship them due to pandemic related supply chain issues.

 

[BigN8]

Allotment is basically a percentage of what you bought the previous years based on historical average volume. Most raw material suppliers have claimed force majeure, where as they no longer have to abide by any kind of purchasing agreement or contracts. My industry , commercial roofing manufacturing, is on allotment for many of the ancillary items that make up a complete roofing system, ie. adhesives, fasteners, insulation, etc. it freakin sucks.

 

[drewkaree]

Thankfully they were able to sell to us. (Yamaha is very territorial)

Not sure if this bit requires expansion, as this doesn't make sense to me in the least, and it might be due to the Yamaha dealership setups around me. Here's my situation. Skipper Bud's in Pewaukee, WI is the dealership I bought from. At that time, there really were no issues with supply. The dealership that's closest to where I boat is Team Winnebagoland in Oshkosh, WI. That's roughly an hour and a half away from where I bought from. If I had any issues, I can't comprehend why, "thankfully", Team Winnebagoland wouldn't be able to sell to us.

I know that Winnebagoland is the Yamaha dealer for that territory (whatever that means), because the Skipper Bud's in Oshkosh that's across the bridge and a few miles away from Winnebagoland can NOT sell Yamaha's.

My question pertains to your "thankfully they were able to sell to us". Are they the same dealership, and would simply be competing against another location, or are you under the impression that you couldn't buy from them because some other dealership is too close by and somehow they wouldn't have sold to you from some pressure by mother Yamaha for some reason?

Wondering, since I have similar territory areas of Yamaha dealerships to what you laid out in your instance.

 

[deubank1776]

Not sure if this bit requires expansion, as this doesn't make sense to me in the least, and it might be due to the Yamaha dealership setups around me. Here's my situation. Skipper Bud's in Pewaukee, WI is the dealership I bought from. At that time, there really were no issues with supply. The dealership that's closest to where I boat is Team Winnebagoland in Oshkosh, WI. That's roughly an hour and a half away from where I bought from. If I had any issues, I can't comprehend why, "thankfully", Team Winnebagoland wouldn't be able to sell to us.

I know that Winnebagoland is the Yamaha dealer for that territory (whatever that means), because the Skipper Bud's in Oshkosh that's across the bridge and a few miles away from Winnebagoland can NOT sell Yamaha's.

My question pertains to your "thankfully they were able to sell to us". Are they the same dealership, and would simply be competing against another location, or are you under the impression that you couldn't buy from them because some other dealership is too close by and somehow they wouldn't have sold to you from some pressure by mother Yamaha for some reason?

Wondering, since I have similar territory areas of Yamaha dealerships to what you laid out in your instance.

We have had dealersships deny us a deposit due to not being close enough (in their territory). The dealer we found our exact boat we wanted called their rep first to confirm that it was ok to sell to us since we werent in their “territory”. Does that help explain it a bit better?

 

[Chrisbert]

Same issue with the dealer in Lewisville, TX. Would not do business with me because I'm too far away. Meantime, the closest dealer never responded to my emails or calls. They seem to only want to sell 200K wake boats.

 

[BigN8]

Based on our sales meeting beginning of January we are going to be holding list price on everything. We used to apply a discount in order to be competitive on certain projects. The powers that be now have the attitude that due to raw material supply shortages they know they have already sold the runtime on all our manufacturing lines for 2022, so why sell any of it at a discount. If you can't hit your sales number with a volume number then you must hit that number with pricing. This year is gonna suck. Already lost a 700,000 sqft project in Richmond, VA because if this.

 

[drewkaree]

We have had dealersships deny us a deposit due to not being close enough (in their territory). The dealer we found our exact boat we wanted called their rep first to confirm that it was ok to sell to us since we werent in their “territory”. Does that help explain it a bit better?

Yes indeed. Doesn't make sense, but I'm thinking it makes "Covid sense".

That wasn't even a consideration when I bought mine, and I'm wondering if perhaps certain dealers work within a small network of friendly dealers to make trades when trying to source a boat for a customer.

For my state, there are 3 Yamaha dealerships within a smaller radius than you stated, and like I said, maybe it's because I bought mine before the world fell apart, but there was no such barrier to me at that time.

 

[Taylorman]

Same issue with the dealer in Lewisville, TX. Would not do business with me because I'm too far away. Meantime, the closest dealer never responded to my emails or calls. They seem to only want to sell 200K wake boats.

This makes no sense to me. As long as you’re willing to pickup the boat I don’t see why a dealer would care where you live. I’m not a lawyer but preventing freedom of choice and forcing consumer to buy from a specific dealership for any reason doesn’t sound legal to me. Have you tried contacting Yamaha about this?

 

[BigN8]

That would probably fall under restriction of trade. I'm sure you could win a court battle, but that would require a court battle, which would require money, so basically it is what it is....

 

[Jim_in_Delaware]

There are actually several boat manufacturers who have this same territory philosophy. Understand that it has zero to do with making the customer happy and 100% to do with trying to keep dealers (especially smaller dealers) happy.

I know of folks who have decided NOT to order boats from a manufacturer, because their local dealer sucks so badly. For most types of boats (non-jets) there are always other options. I know of other folks who have bought slightly used boats, again so they didn't have deal with their sucky local dealer.

Jim

 

[deubank1776]

There are actually several boat manufacturers who have this same territory philosophy. Understand that it has zero to do with making the customer happy and 100% to do with trying to keep dealers (especially smaller dealers) happy.

I know of folks who have decided NOT to order boats from a manufacturer, because their local dealer sucks so badly. For most types of boats (non-jets) there are always other options. I know of other folks who have bought slightly used boats, again so they didn't have deal with their sucky local dealer.

Jim

That is exactly why the marine we got it from was able to sell us our boat. He contacted his Yammy Rep and said their designated marine is "REDACTED" and the Yammy Rep said "Sheeeeeeeeeeiiiittt, yeah you can sell to them." He felt so bad for us xD @drewkaree

 

[deubank1776]

This makes no sense to me. As long as you’re willing to pickup the boat I don’t see why a dealer would care where you live. I’m not a lawyer but preventing freedom of choice and forcing consumer to buy from a specific dealership for any reason doesn’t sound legal to me. Have you tried contacting Yamaha about this?

I mean it's their product. They can decide where to sell. Yamaha is a Monopoly and Yamaha boats are a scarcity despite pandemic.

 

[deubank1776]

This makes no sense to me. As long as you’re willing to pickup the boat I don’t see why a dealer would care where you live. I’m not a lawyer but preventing freedom of choice and forcing consumer to buy from a specific dealership for any reason doesn’t sound legal to me. Have you tried contacting Yamaha about this?

It also creates fairness to consumers. Not everyone is capable of towing long distance. Is it fair how they allocate boats and determine delivery... absolutely not. They of course prioritize TX and FL then Southern states then the Northern states get the left overs. Also the means of delivery is scuffed because if they get a parts shipment in from Wisconsin to Venore, they will ask the trucker where he is heading. Then they will load him with some boats and send him off. I think that is why we see more boats going to Minnesota, Pennsylvania, ETC. Heavy traffic for truckers going home or RTB.

 

[adrianp89]

Did the OP mean '23? The 22s have been out for a while...