Increased demand for its luxury motor yachts, together with a healthy local economy, has led to local boat builder Salthouse Next Generation Boats shifting its manufacturing arm to Taiwan.
Owner Dean Salthouse says the company has experienced a massive increase in enquiries for its popular Corsair range which has grown significantly over the last five years. This is on top of increased business opportunities as a result of the 2013 purchase of the ICON flybridge motor yacht range from Formula Cruisers.
“Having worked in all aspects of this business, I have little passion for running such a large manufacturing company. The biggest advantage of moving the manufacturing to Taiwan is the availability of a stable workforce there which produces consistently high quality.
“This is an exciting development for the business as it allows me the freedom to design and develop new products at greater speed with minimal overheads and at a lower cost.
“It also opens up global markets, reduces our shipping costs to Australia, allows us to keep our pricing more stable as the New Zealand dollar rises and falls as well as provide favourable terms of trade,” he says.
Mr Salthouse says the company has also recently engaged the services of Kit Carlier Design to manage the interior design and styling of the boats. Kit and Donna, both formerly of Alloy Yachts, have recently come together and will bring a fresh design ethos to the Salthouse range.
“Their expertise will also enable the company to use computer generated 3D models and renderings of the interior and exterior, which will be an invaluable tool in the design and marketing of our larger motor yachts.”
For further information, please contact Dean Salthouse on 021 429 723.
About Salthouse Next Generation Boats
Salthouse Next Generation Boats build the luxury motor yacht the Salthouse CORSAIR and Salthouse ICON. The company was founded by Dean Salthouse after the successful revamp of the original Corsair into a wider bodied Cabriolet styled motor yacht, built in partnership with his father Bob Salthouse over a period of two years.
In 2013 Dean purchased the very popular ICON flybridge motor yacht range from Formula Cruisers.