The used boats from the German shipyard are consolidating their position in the luxury motorboat segment for “day boating.”
We start the year 2022 by analyzing the pre-owned boating market and continuing the periodic analysis we conduct at Marivent Yachts on the depreciation of Fjord brand boats
The market context
Following the publications of 2017 and 2019, analyzing the results of the second-hand market in 2021 becomes even more relevant. As it is public knowledge, since the beginning of the pandemic in 2020, boat manufacturers have been affected by a set of factors such as the increase in raw material prices, disruptions in the supply chain, logistical and supply problems, among others, which we won’t go into detail but have led to a sharp decrease in supply. Currently, the overall availability of new boats from major European manufacturers is estimated for summer 2023 or even 2024, depending on the brands and models.
As a consequence of this situation, the existing stock of new boats has been depleted during 2021, and buyers of new boats have shifted their attention to the pre-owned and semi-new market. This has led to an increased demand and a rise in second-hand buying and selling operations, which has been accentuated in the last two years. Taking the sales of pre-owned Fjord brand boats as a reference, the sales evolution has notably increased since 2020, clearly indicating this change in trend.
Pre-owned Fjord units sold from 2016 to 2021
| Period | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 |
| Pre-owned Fjord boats sold | 1 | 7 | 2 | 7 | 11 | 25 |
The success in new boat sales of the Fjord brand is undeniable. A good example of this is Marivent Yachts, which sells more than half of the German shipyard’s production year after year. Although the increase in pre-owned boat sales is a logical consequence of the gradual increase in new boat sales, this transfer from the new boat market to the pre-owned market alone cannot explain the rise in pre-owned boat transactions in the last two years.
In the previous table, it can be observed that in 2020, after the halt in activity during the first half of the year, sales significantly increased, and a dozen transactions were signed in just 6 months. We associate this initial increase with the rebound effect of demand after a period of uncertainty. And this rebound effect is accentuated in 2021 due to the decrease in the supply of new boats, which generates demand for pre-owned vessels.
Clearly, this strong demand has generated several effects in the pre-owned market. Firstly, more than half of these 25 boats sold were not publicly marketed or advertised on the internet. Another notable effect has been the absence of negotiation between parties. Sale prices have hardly suffered discounts unless for objective reasons detected during the inspection process during the purchase. And thirdly, the growing inflation makes pre-owned boats even more attractive and softens their depreciation.
Therefore, if we analyze the two-year period of 2021 and 2022, we have 36 transactions of buying and selling used Fjord boats in which Marivent Yachts or its subsidiaries have intermediated, and we not only know the price agreed upon between individuals but also the new selling price. This allows us to accurately calculate the depreciation suffered by each unit sold.
Units sold by models between 2020 and 2021
| Model | 2020 | 2021 | Total |
| Fjord 38 Xpress (incl. F36X) | – | 3 | 3 |
| Fjord 38 Open (incl. F36) | 1 | 6 | 7 |
| Fjord 40 Open | 6 | 5 | 11 |
| Fjord 44 Open (incl. F42) | 1 | 6 | 7 |
| Fjord 44 Coupé | – | – | – |
| Fjord 52 Open (incl. F48) | 3 | 5 | 8 |
| Subtotals | 11 | 25 | 36 |
The average depreciation of the pre-owned market
If you consult different sources (*), specialized in the buying and selling of pre-owned boats in the nautical market, it is commonly understood that it is typical to lose between 25% and 30% of the new purchase value within the first three years. Between 5% and 7% during the following 7 years, accumulating a depreciation between 40% and 50% over these first 10 years. After 10 years of age, depreciation is usually calculated at an annual rate of 5%. Obviously, factors such as the condition of the boat, maintenance history, engine hours, brand and model, supply and demand, equipment, etc., will influence the depreciation in one way or another.
Since boat depreciation is not linear, being more pronounced in the early years and smoothing out over time, the average depreciation should be weighted considering this criterion. It should be noted that this weighting factor has not been applied in our depreciation calculations, which follow an arithmetic average. However, on the other hand, we do know the average age of the boats sold each year, and therefore, we can compare the depreciation of a Fjord boat versus the typical depreciation of a vessel in the pre-owned nautical market.
Results
If we focus on the evolution of depreciation for Fjord boats, we can observe annual average depreciation values below the overall average every year. With the exception of the year 2020, where depreciation falls within the range estimated as reasonable.
| Model / Year of sale | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | % Average depreciation since 2017 |
| Fjord 38 Xpress (incl. F36X) | – | – | – | – | 1,22 | 1,22 |
| Fjord 38 Open (incl. F36) | – | – | – | 6,45 | 3,63 | 4,20 |
| Fjord 40 Open | 6,17 | 5,44 | 7,06 | 5,16 | 5,54 | 6,70 |
| Fjord 44 Open (incl. F42) | 16,80 | – | 3,99 | 9,13 | 3,81 | 6,65 |
| Fjord 44 Coupé | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Fjord 52 Open (incl. F48) | – | – | – | 11,34 | 7,38 | 8,87 |
| % Average depreciation | 7,19 | 5,44 | 6,04 | 8,02 | 4,23 | 6,31 |
| Average age (years) | 3 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3,83 |
| % Depreciation of Fjord by age | 21,57 | 21,76 | 18,12 | 32,08 | 16,92 | 24,16 |
| % Depreciation of the market by age | 25 – 30 | 25 – 37 | 25 – 30 | 25 – 37 | 25 – 37 | 25 – 37 |
| Deviation of Fjord vs. market | -3,5 / -8,5 | -3,3 / -15,3 | -6,8 / -11,9 | +7,0 / -4,9 | -8,1 / -20,1 | -0,8 / -12,9 |
Conclusions
- Therefore, last year we recorded the lowest depreciation in the entire series recorded since 2017 for any of the models.
- We can confidently state that Fjord boats depreciate between 8% and 20% less than the majority of pre-owned boats in the market.
- They experience very little depreciation not only in the medium term (as seen in the Fjord 40 Open, a model that is 13 years old) but also in the short term, where depreciation is typically more pronounced.
And after exhausting the pre-owned boat market, we expect this trend to strengthen during the year 2022 with higher selling prices and therefore even lower depreciation, if possible.
Pre-owned Sales Department at Marivent Yachts
(*) Sources Consulted
Yacht World web site
Voiles et voiliers magazin