Luhrs Marine Group stops production

Posted on 09 February 2012

Luhrs Marine Group - the builder of Silverton, Luhrs, Mainship and Ovation boats - went into shutdown mode beginning Monday, the company confirmed to Soundings Trade Only.

See Related Articles

The Millville, N.J.-based company said in a message to its dealers that it would shut down production for 60 to 90 days to allow boat orders to accumulate in its pipeline.

“As everyone will agree, we have all been affected in some way or another by these hard economic times the past three years,” the company said. “We have fought hard to avoid this decision, but it is the best solution to the current state of affairs.”

The company told its dealers, “We hope you will continue to promote our products and keep in touch with our sales team so that with your help we can again start producing the excellent products of the Luhrs Marine Group.”

The shutdown does not impact Florida-based Hunter Marine Corp., which is still in production.

Comments

We bought our Mainship new in 2003. We worked with the office in St. Augustine. Mark Hankins was wonderful as were the other staff members. We would like a larger boat but won't trade because we are afraid another boat will not hold up as our Mainship has. If anyone from Mainship reads this I need to ask about draining the freshwater tanks. I hope all of you will be back to work very soon.

Been dealing with them for just a little while now. Sold some boats, however every boat has been screwed up. Everything. Seems like no one at the factory cares......

[quote]Condolences go out to the employees that are losing their jobs. Hopefully they will get a call to come back to work in a few months to a company with a more positive and respectful attitude.[/quote]

Given their track record, I doubt it...

poorly managed company for years. they deserve what they get.

Shortsighted to make this political and blame the administration as the economy meltdown occurred on the last administration’s watch and both parties have been unable to cooperate to help the economy.

Hopefully they will return to production soon. Nordic Tug went on a hiatus last year but came back to production.

Outside of the long history of bad managentment,
on so many levels, Times must adjust. When you realize the high percentages of dealer's no longer
finding New Boat sales a profitable risk worth investing the time money and energy. Point is, their
are to many manufactures compaired to a viable Dealer network still left to distribute. I suspect we will
see more of this..........Sad for the employees, sad for our nation. Our next election is critical.

The boat manufacturing business will never pump out the amount of boats as it did in the mid 2000's. Now a days banks are looking to see if a potential buyer has a down payment and income to keep paying on the loan. Had the financial institutions done that in the mid 2000's, the economy and boat sales would still be strong. The shutdown is likely to scare some potential buyers away. Shutdown today, out of business tommorow. This will also hurt the resale value of existing boats.

I used to call on Luhrs for many years as a supplier. They were the most difficult people to deal with of all the marine builders. I agree with F. Glass/1st. comment. They need a little humble pie and a new attitude.

Sad for all my friends in NJ. This builder needs to focus on quality and stronger dealer relationships which has been lacking for far to long. Hunter has less competition and has done a good job of leading this group for the last 10 years but they need those close dealer ties to carry them through if they hope to survive.

In spite of complaints about the company in recent years, Mainship has been the premier builder of reasonably priced trawlers available to a large segment of the trawler market.

I am on my second boat and have been impressed with MOST of the components and construction. I have owned larger and far more expensive boats in the past and have had just as many problems with them as with the Mainships.

I only hope that they find their way back into production.

Very sorry to hear this about this legendary company, hope the economy turns around and a new generation of boaters will arise. Sorry for the loss of jobs of the loyal employees.

I agree with Fred Glass's statement. As a former Silverton dealer- they stuck me for around $25000 in warranty which I obviously won't be seeing in the near future- if ever.

low quality,cheaply built hulls not fit for florida & bahamas waters. check out the lawsuits the past 20 years,still little improvement in quality or attitude. cocoanut grove,florida native! save the miami marine stadium.

Haven't we been told that the country came out of recession back in 2009?

This Administration has done a terrible job on almost everything it has touched. While they claim unemployment has declined, the Labor department reports that 2,500,000 more people are out of work in January than in December. So much for all of the "high paying" seasonal jobs for Christmas.

Now we get the National Ocean Policy, a set of regulations not touched by Congress that will threaten the fishing and boating industries further.

I Hate To Here This . Mainship Has Helped A Lot Of People Get In To A Nice Trawler For A Resonable Price .
I Hope They Are Back Soon . I Would Think That In These Time`s The Trawler`s Should Come Back On Line First ?

This is VERY sad news....hopefully they will bounce back soon!

Very tough economy, certainly not change I could believe in..

All the best that will be out of work.

This New Jersey builder has been around for over forty years. During that time, especially in the past decade, the company became stale, arrogant, and downright rude to their dealers and customers.

A little humble pie may be just what is needed to pull this company back together and make it strong again like it was back in the 60's and 70's.

Condolences go out to the employees that are losing their jobs. Hopefully they will get a call to come back to work in a few months to a company with a more positive and respectful attitude.

Add your comment

Your name:	Required, screen names acceptable
Your email:	Required, will not be published
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive. For more information, please see our Comments Policy.:

Word verification:

yvComment v.1.21.1

Facebook	RSS
Twitter	LinkedIn
Daily E-newsletter