Forecast 2015: Terry Sobo—Nor-Tech Hi-Performance Boats

Longtime sales and marketing director for Nor-Tech Hi-Performance Boats Terry Sobo doesn’t need a crystal ball to see what lies ahead in 2015 for the Fort Myers, Fla., company. It’s going to be busy as 2015 production is sold out for all Nor-Tech models.

Thanks to a steady stream of center consoles, Nor-Tech’s 2015 production is completely sold out.

Sobo acknowledged that most of that production is taken up by the company’s popular center console lineup, so it’s not hard to guess what his prediction is for the performance boat market in the new year.

“In a nutshell, the forecast for 2015 is that there doesn’t seem to be any slowdown in sight as far as center consoles go—more and more people are embracing them, and a majority of those people aren’t interested in them for fishing purposes,” Sobo said. “The center consoles are definitely the trend and the demand is for larger, more elaborate, more powerful models with even more features. The luxury stuff is where it’s at, that’s for sure.

“On the high-performance side of things, we’ve got a smattering of boats in the works but it’s all big stuff,” he continued. “We’ve got some 50-plus-foot cats and V-bottoms coming, all with Mercury Racing 1100s or 1350s. Mercury truly raised the bar with those engines. Besides diesel applications, they’re the only engines we’re putting in boats at the moment.”

Related stories
2015 Forecast Complete Series
Sobo’s Highs and Lows from 2013
Nor-Tech Business Amazing