Volvo Penta is sponsoring the 16th China International Boat Show and, at the same time, announcing growth ambitions on the expanding Chinese market for leisure boats.
Today, when the 16th China International Boat Show opens in the centre of Shanghai, interest is at record levels. More than 400 exhibitors from 20 countries are represented and the number of visitors this year is expected to increase by more than 30 per cent compared with last year.
Interest in boating and boat ownership is increasing sharply in China and the high rate of economic growth means that an increasingly large and broad-based number of consumers have the opportunity to purchase leisure boats.
“This trend will continue and intensify over the next few years. Market leading boat builders from Europe and North America are successively strengthening their presence in China and we can also see real belief in the future among domestic boat builders,” says Volvo Penta’s president, Göran Gummeson.
Volvo Penta is co-sponsor in this year’s China International Boat Show in order to underline its strong commitment to the Chinese leisure boat market.
“We believe that China is going to be a large future market for leisure boats and, with the current rate of growth, we also believe that this is going to happen rapidly. Chinese consumers want to acquire the same habits as consumers in the rest of the world and boat ownership is high on their wish list,” adds Göran Gummeson.
Volvo Penta currently has its headquarters for all its Asian operations in Shanghai. As yet, the company’s operations in Asia focus very heavily on the sale of industrial engines and engines for commercial boats, but sales for leisure boats are increasing successively. This development is being driven not only by domestic demand but also by the fact that more and more international boat builders are considering producing boats in China for export to Europe and North America.
Volvo Penta already has some 70 dealers on the Chinese market. Within the next three years, Volvo Penta expects this number to rise to above 100. “For several decades, Volvo Penta has had the industry’s largest and most global service and dealer network. We have the same ambition levels in terms of both geographical coverage and competence for our service network in China as we have in the rest of the world,” continues Göran Gummeson.
For the past few years, Volvo Penta has had a distribution centre for diesel engines in Lingang, just outside Shanghai. Engines for industrial engine customers and marine customers in commercial shipping are assembled here and distributed.
“We are the world leading import brand in China in many industrial engine segments and we are also prepared to make the investments that are necessary to maintain our market leading position also when it comes to leisure boats,” says Giorgio Paris, president of Volvo Penta Region Asia.
Next year, the world’s largest round-the-world sailing race, the Volvo Ocean Race, will be visiting China for the second time. In February, the race boats will arrive in Sanya on the island of Hainan in southern China. The authorities on the island have made the Volvo Ocean Race the starting point for the comprehensive launch of Hainan as a new tourist metropolis which is preparing to compete with the large tourist destinations in South-East Asia. “At both central and regional levels, many exciting initiatives are in progress and they will promote developments for leisure boats in China. What’s more, the Chinese authorities have ambitious environmental targets for their activities and this is an area in which Volvo Penta is an excellent match,” adds Giorgio Paris.