Long waiting times and extended delivery delays for Jet Skis and personal watercraft globally – and in Australia – are expected continue well into next year, a leading industry commentator has forecast.
Kevin Shaw, editor-in-chief of US-based The Watercraft Journal – the world’s largest Jet Ski website – told his audience in a recent YouTube broadcast that production and shipping bottlenecks are likely to continue throughout 2023.
“Expect production delays. Expect transportation delays. Expect there to be bidding wars (among customers trying to secure a ski),” said Shaw, who has impeccable industry contacts as he is plugged into all three North American-based Jet Ski brands.
“Expect there to be everything that’s been happening this year. It’s happening again … second verse, same as the first. It is not better. Nothing has gotten better,” Shaw told his global online audience.
“Things are going to get worse before they get better. I don’t know how to convey this. There’s going to be people who are like: ‘I don’t understand, why aren’t there Jet Skis in the Jet Ski dealership?’
“There’s (going to be) a lot of guys who are going to say: ‘Well, if I pay everything up front, if I pay the whole twenty-grand up front, that’s going to ensure that I get my Jet Ski first’.
“Nope,” the straight-shooting Shaw told his audience in his latest weekly YouTube broadcast. “How many people have a couple thousands dollars in deposits waiting … six months, eight months, nine months, a year?”
The forecast tallies with feedback from dealers representing all three Jet Ski and personal watercraft brands in Australia – Sea-Doo, Yamaha WaveRunner, and Kawasaki – who feel they are at the back of the queue when it comes to stock allocation out of America.
“I’m telling you guys, it’s a crapshoot,” said Shaw. “You ever heard the phrase ‘I’m waiting for my ship to come in’.”
As previously reported by Watercraft Zone, most dealers representing Sea-Doo, Yamaha WaveRunner and Kawasaki Jet Ski in Australia have been operating on fumes for the past year or so.
With incoming stock levels cut in half, most Jet Ski dealers in Australia have relied on workshop service bookings to keep the showroom doors open.
“It’s unprecedented times,” said one leading Jet Ski dealer who asked to remain anonymous.
“A lot of customers are understanding, and a lot will ring and abuse you because they think you’re holding out on them, or that we’ve sold their ski to someone else.
“But we haven’t (sold their Jet Ski from under them). We simply haven’t had enough stock to go around.”
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