A brief environmental analysis of Élan and the competition Ski Boat Industry

Seminar paper from the year 2004 in the subject Business economics - Business Management, Corporate Governance, grade: Credit, Deakin University (Faculty of Business and Law), course: Strategic Management, language: English, abstract: Part 1: Competitors on the Ski Boat Market Which companies are Élan's main competitors? How strong is each of these competitors in relation to Élan? What competitive moves can Élan expect from each of these competitors? As Ben Favret wants to become 'true market leader in profitability, quality, manufacturing cost efficiency and eventually sale', Élan has to compete with the actual market leaders MasterCraft and Malibu. Furthermore there will be direct competition in the niche of tournament skier with Infinity Boats. Actualy the market leader with 30 percent market share in the competitive boat industry is MasterCraft. Statistical Surveys counted 1,434 registered sales of their competition ski boats in the first six month 2001. Their facility gives them the possibility to produce about 6200 boats per year. With the widest range of 15 models in best quality on the market and ongoing innovations reinforced by various R&D alliances, MasterCraft's brand name is well known and on the ski boat market. Élan has to recognize that MasterCraft proved to retain good sales even in bad economic circumstances most likely because of their wide diversification and its strong brand name. After the foundation of the concept boat idea which lowers their risk in introducing new models and features, MasterCraft might even bring more innovative products on the market. On the other hand the new ownership of senior managers and a venture capital company might cause disagreements in where to lead the company in the next years.