Brunswick meets demand with Brazil plant

by Media Services on 2 Aug 2011 Brunswick Corp. has announced it will establish a manufacturing plant in Brazil to produce boats for South America's largest country and the surrounding region.

The plant, which is to be in the Perini Industrial Park in Joinville, Santa Catarina - in the prosperous south of Brazil - will have nearly 150,000 square feet of manufacturing space and will eventually employ as many as 150 people to produce several Bayliner and Sea Ray sportboats and cruisers.

Brunswick plans to have locally manufactured products available in advance of the 2012 summer boating season. When it is in full operation, the plant will have the capacity to produce more than 400 boats annually.

Brunswick anticipates that it will begin hiring to staff its Brazilian operations within the next 30 days.

'With the eighth-largest economy in the world, we believe Brazil and its expanding boat market offer us attractive opportunities for growth,' Brunswick chairman and CEO Dustan McCoy said in a statement. 'Latin America, in general, has provided Brunswick with solid growth, as we have long served the region with our Mercury Marine engines and leading brands such as Bayliner and Sea Ray boats, Life Fitness exercise equipment and Brunswick bowling products.

'For decades, Brunswick has sold and manufactured our recreational products around the world, always believing that by being closer to a market we can better serve our customers and anticipate emerging local trends,' McCoy added. 'For these reasons, we have long maintained local staff and operations that are intimately familiar with a market's unique attributes and expectations. It is this local focus to serving the world's markets that has led to over 40 percent of our 2010 revenues being provided by markets outside the U.S.'

Last week, Brunswick said international sales were 39 percent of its boat segment sales and 41 percent of its marine engine segment sales in the second quarter.

In a call with analysts to discuss quarterly results, McCoy mentioned Brazil as an area that was seeing growth.

More at www.brunswick.com