Bass Pro purchases Ranger, Triton and Stratos

[TNsnow]

http://www.bassfan.com/docktalk.asp?id=12319#12319#ixzz3Lch0IchS</p>

Merry Christmas!</p>

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[fishinvol]

Wow !! Man, I hope the quality of those boats don't take a hit because of that. Pretty interesting for sure.

 

[Jmax]

fishinvol - 12/11/2014 3:44 PM

Wow !! Man, I hope the quality of those boats don't take a hit because of that. Pretty interesting for sure.

Ditto that one Chris. You took the thought right out of my head. I also wonder what kind of impact this will have on the dealers of Ranger, Triton and Stratos. Like here we have several Rangers dealers within easy driving distance, but we also have a Bass Pro Opening soon. emoScratch Will the Bass Pro be selling those three boats as well and will they undercut the little guy? Will be interesting to see how this all plays out. emoConfused Jmax

 

[fishinvol]

Just glad I bought my Triton when I did .

 

[TNsnow]

Independent dealers will still be plentiful. There are several Nitro/Tracker dealers around. I don't think there will be any major changes for a good while but who knows in 2-3 years. Gonna be interesting for sure.

 

[jg1456]

I think they bought them out because Cabelas sells Ranger and Stratos.

 

[Carl Guffey]

<font size="3" face="georgia,palatino">Fact may be S-TR-ANGER then fiction.emoBang </font>

 

[kingcab]

In my opinion when Earl Bentz left the quality of boat went down. Just a opinion and we will see the results in the future.

 

[RangerRob]

Quality going to s**t in 3...2...

 

[saltyduck]

A couple of thoughts. First off Earl Bentz has not left Triton. He is still the CEO of Triton. The 3 brands operate as Fishing Holdings which will remain in tact and instead of being owned by Platinum Holdings a financial company they will be owned by Bass Pro a company that understands the market. In my opinion this means you have two major companies that now own the bass boat market; Bass Pro and Yamaha. The big negative to this whole transaction in my opinion is for companies like Bullet, Phoenix, and Legend. All this transaction did was put an enormous amount of cash behind Ranger, Triton, and Stratos to dominate the market along with Skeeter because Yamaha has plenty of money to compete.

 

[saltyduck]

Bass pro in fact helps a dealership to an extent. A local dealer with a bass pro can use inventory that bass pro has so they don't have to stock as much product. Bass pro is also a good lead source for local dealers because they don't take boats in on trade and refer those prospective customers to the local dealers.

 

[TNsnow]

saltyduck - 12/12/2014 12:47 AM Bass pro in fact helps a dealership to an extent. A local dealer with a bass pro can use inventory that bass pro has so they don't have to stock as much product. Bass pro is also a good lead source for local dealers because they don't take boats in on trade and refer those prospective customers to the local dealers.

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Most BPS/Tracker dealers do in fact take trades, some more aggressively than others.Swapping inventory is a very good thing and does help dealers be able to offer the customer more options in a timely way (rather than having to special order and wait 6 weeks).</p>

I too like the fact that the boat companies are now owned by fishermen and sportsman who know the product rather than an equity company who only knows bean counting.</p>

 

[ahyde]

what will it do to all the boat dealers.

 

[TNsnow]

Independent dealers are integral to the survival of the brands. There are less than 80 Bass Pros in the nation but hundreds of independent dealers. Some of the largest Nitro/Tracker dealers are small family owned businesses and they will decide if what is offered is beneficial to them. I think most will find that it is in the long run. At the Tracker dealer meeting the independent dealers were courted very nicely and they are much needed to make this succeed. Island Cove may be able to offer Ranger and Triton boats in the future, if they choose to. Fish and Fun may be able to get the Tracker/Nitro line if they see fit.
As always the quality dealers will be sought after by customers and boat builders.

 

[FishFan]

IMO this is the beginning to the end for Ranger. I have owned them exclusively since 1989 but the quality seems to slowly be going down & now it will most likely go down more.

There is nothing good about one or two companies gobbling up the market share. They can control pricing across the board on new AND used boats. They can also dictate the pricing on other goods that go into their boats that are made for them by outside suppliers. There is nothing good about a monopoly. Just my $0.02 worth....

 

[jpbass]

You can get back in a Triton now Robbie and get rid of that Nitro. You have suffered long enough.

 

[TNsnow]

At my age I am more of a Nitro/Ranger guy, a little slower and smoother. I will leave the speed for you young bucks.

 

[kingcab]

Robbie, thanks for your opinion on this matter, if anyone should know about the boating industry you are the person who would give a honest answer.

 

[dragfish]

jpbass - 12/12/2014 11:17 AM

You can get back in a Triton now Robbie and get rid of that Nitro. You have suffered long enough.

Oooo=that's like a cowboy insulting another cowboy's horse!

 

[Fshn Cpa]

I believe this will be the end of the line for Stratos Boats. They have been getting squeezed out since Ranger acquired them several years ago.