Bayliners To Be Built in Argentina


Last week Bayliner signed an agreement with marine Sur, Argentina’s largest builder of sportboats, to begin building the Bayliner 175 and 185. Argentina has a 70% import duty on boats which effectively keeps foreign product out of the growing Argentine market. The small Bayliners are already built in Mexico so both production and consumer manuals are already available in Spanish.

Bayliners

Niñas, tenga cuidado con los pies! The Bayliner 175 makes a fine starter boat and can be easily trailered to Argentina’s many rivers and lakes.

Report from International Boating Industry, October 16th--

Speaking to IBI's publishing director Nick Hopkinson last Thursday at the Buenos Aires boat show, Bill Gress, Brunswick's president of Latin America operations, hailed the deal as a first for the US marine giant.

"In this case we are entering an agreement for Marine Sur to manufacture Bayliner sportsboats using our joint resources. We have not taken an equity stake in the business, our intention is to offer the consumer in this part of South America the advantages of the Bayliner product at affordable prices without incurring the 70 per cent import duties. This simple step by step approach will assist us to better understand the Latino boaters' preferences and will ensure quality which will meet or exceed Bayliner's strict quality standards."

"Our engineers and technicians have been here in Argentina for some time now in a build up phase of training and technical support. Initially kits of hulls, decks and fittings having been arriving from our Mexican plant but full local production will follow shortly with the 175 and 185 models to begin with. The fact that all production, homologation and user manuals are already available in Spanish is a great advantage".

Marine Sur, jointly owned by Andres Troelsen and Arena Emilio, builds in excess of 600 sportsboats annually in the 4.8m-7.3m (16ft-24ft) range and already has an agreement with Brunswick to market its own boats under the Quicksilver brand name in South America.