Factors Affecting Current New Boat Prices

The boat industry has faced a series of volatile price pressures since the beginning of this decade. New boats have become significantly more expensive due to ongoing supply chain challenges, rising labor costs, increased product complexity, and now, tariff headwinds.

What has received less attention is the weakened U.S. dollar compared to foreign currencies since early 2025. While there is growing belief that these higher price levels represent a new normal for the industry, there remains a short window of opportunity for buyers to take advantage of boats that were imported into the United States before these cost stressors took full effect.

Key Factors Affecting New Boat Prices for Winter 2025 Production

Imported boats are currently subject to several compounding cost pressures. The original 1.47% import duty has been replaced by a 15.47% tariff on all boats originating from the European Union. This increase compounds with general inflation (estimated at 2–3%) and a weakened U.S. dollar—together driving substantial upward pricing trends across the marine industry.

The Theoretical Math

Total Year-Over-Year Increase: +36.22%

Mitigation Strategies

While these pricing factors may seem unavoidable, there are several mechanisms that can reduce their overall impact.

➡ First Sale Rule
This U.S. Customs rule allows the tariff to be assessed on the first sale price—the transaction between the manufacturer and its trading company—rather than the final sale price to the U.S. importer.

Nimbus Example:
Nimbus Boats are built by a third-party business partner, which allows their effective tariff rate to be reduced to approximately 8% on most models. Customers are responsible for this tariff amount upon the boat’s arrival in the U.S. Importantly, if the tariff is rescinded, customers will not be charged the fee—protecting them from post-purchase adjustments.

➡ U.S. Subsidiary Advantage
Manufacturers with a U.S. subsidiary can declare a lower wholesale value as the tariff base, further reducing the effective tariff rate. In contrast, manufacturers selling directly to U.S. dealers must apply tariffs to the full wholesale cost.

Nimbus Example:
The establishment of Nimbus Boats USA enhances the brand’s customer service and dealer support while also improving import efficiency. This structure helps offset tariff impacts and supports logistics for the U.S. spare parts warehouse in Miami, Florida and the production facility in Edgewater, Florida.

➡ Flexible Production as a Competitive Advantage: The Nimbus Group Model Nimbus Group, the largest Scandinavian-owned boat builder, operates under a construction philosophy centered on flexible production capacity. This model combines company-owned factories in Sweden and the United States with strategic outsourced production in Poland.

The result is a highly adaptive manufacturing network that enables Nimbus Group to optimize efficiency, manage costs, and respond quickly to market demands. From a market-facing perspective, this approach allows Nimbus brands to offer aggressive pricing relative to competitors while maintaining the hallmark craftsmanship and quality associated with Scandinavian boatbuilding.

Domestically Built Boats

Boats manufactured in the United States face many of the same cost pressures. A substantial portion of key components—such as engines, electronics, and hardware—are imported and therefore subject to the same tariffs, inflation, and exchange-rate challenges. As a result, even domestically built boats are expected to experience continued price increases.

Stock Boats Built Before the New Tariffs

Anticipating these economic shifts, Nimbus Group employed a proactive strategy by shipping all excess production to the U.S. before the new tariffs were initiated. This approach has created a limited inventory of pre-tariff boats available at lower prices.

Tariff-Free Inventory

Summary

As global economic and geopolitical factors continue to disrupt the marine industry, Nimbus Group remains committed to staying nimble, strategic, and customer-focused in the U.S. market.

For more information about Nimbus Group’s strategies—or to learn how you can best leverage your own purchasing opportunity—please contact:

Lew Davies
Technical Sales Director, Nimbus Boats USA
Lew.Davies@nimbus.se