White Shark, a mythical brand difficult to establish
French Boat Market has been importing eight foreign brands of motorboats and RIBs into France since 1993, including Galeon Yachts, Numarine, Nuova Jolly, Rodman and Northstar. But the company, based in Mandelieu-la-Napoule in the south of France, has just announced the acquisition of a legendary French brand, White Shark.
Since its birth in the 90s, the White Shark brand has undergone many successive takeovers. The most recent of these was in 2016, when a new model, the White Shark 300, was relaunched in December 2017. But it wasn't enough to get the shark brand back on track.
French Boat Market has bought back the boat molds and the brand, but not the 1,500 m2 hangar on the island of Oléron where the boats were previously built. The company is currently studying various possibilities for resuming production. "France is a possibility", explains Kevin Pittet, the company's Sales Manager.
Organizing production and developing a network
Although the company is accustomed to importing, this is the first time it has had its own brand, as the sales manager explains.
"This is our first acquisition. As importers, we have the knowledge to manage a distribution network, but also to develop the boats. French Boat Market's DNA is to adapt to markets. We're not just importers, we play a role in the evolution of the products we import. We have a real know-how of the market and how the French use their boats, so we can offer them the right product."
Although the takeover has been completed, it is still in its early stages. The company is working on the creation of various partnerships to relaunch the brand: production, designers, distribution network...
A design that will evolve to become a premium brand
In addition to the industrial set-up, French Boat Market is also working on a market study to optimize the boats.
" These boats are quite spacious and have an incredible hull, but we're certainly going to evolve the design and bring in a bit of modernity. We're studying what customers want from a White Shark. Between American fishing boats like Scout, Pursuit or Boston Whaler and dayboats like Jeanneau's Leader, there's no alternative on the market. This is the market we want to position ourselves in."
White Shark's aim is to position itself in the "premium" dayboat market, targeting Leader owners who want to upgrade to a more luxurious boat, as well as former White Shark owners, with a more modern, advanced boat.
Complete the range and compete in the U.S. market
The brand intends to compete with its American neighbors (Boston Whaler), taxed by a 25% tariff, and its Polish neighbors, owned by a US group (Quicksilver), to become a French pillar of the European fishing boat market, thanks to the brand's reputation and the marine qualities of its hull.
"This acquisition will enable us to strengthen our brands and perfectly complements our ranges. We have RIBs (Nuova Jolly, Northstar), classic rigid hulls (Galia, Roadman), as well as American brands (Pursuit, Scout Boats) and luxury launches (Galeon and Numarine). White Shark is exactly the segment of the market not yet served by rigid hulls. It takes a long time to build brand awareness, but with White Shark, we've already done that explains Kevin Pittet.
French Boat Market hopes to present its first new-generation model at the 2020 Paris Boat Show.
