Brunswick Plans New Yacht Building Plant in Brazil

Brunswick announced it will establish a manufacturing plant in Brazil to produce yachts for South America’s largest country and surrounding nations.

The plant, which is to be in the Perini Industrial Park in Joinville, Santa Catarina, will have nearly 150,000 square feet of manufacturing space and will eventually employ as many as 150 marine workers to produce several Bayliner and Sea Ray boats and cruisers.

Brunswick plans to have locally manufactured products available in advance of the 2012 Summer boating season. When it is in full operation, the Bayliner and Sea Ray plant will have the capacity to produce more than 400 boats annually.

Brunswick anticipates that it will begin hiring to staff its Brazilian operations within the next month.

“With the 8th-largest economy in the world, we believe Brazil and its expanding boat market offer us attractive opportunities for growth,” Brunswick chairman Dustan McCoy commented. “Latin America, has provided Brunswick with solid growth, as we have long served the region with our Mercury Marine engines and leading brands such as Bayliner and Sea Ray boats, Life Fitness exercise equipment and Brunswick bowling products.

“For decades, Brunswick has sold and manufactured our recreational products around the world, always believing that by being closer to a market we can better serve our customers and anticipate emerging local trends,” McCoy added. “For these reasons, we have long maintained local staff and operations that are intimately familiar with a market’s unique attributes and expectations. It is this local focus to serving the world’s markets that has led to over 40% of our 2010 revenues being provided by markets outside the U.S.”

Brunswick reported international sales were 39% of its boat segment sales and 41% of its marine engine segment sales in the 2nd quarter.

In a call with analysts to discuss quarterly results, McCoy mentioned Brazil as an area that was seeing growth.

Source: Trade Only Today.