You’re Cut
Published May 19, 2009 | 
Hello, I must be going,
I cannot stay, I came to say, I must be going.
I’m glad I came, but just the same I must be going.
La La.
– groucho marx
Well, you’ve got to laugh, don’t you!? This year General Motors here in the states has been trying to remain viable. So they started cutting brands. First on the block was Pontiac. Pontiac was meant to be the more sporty, muscle bound GM. Pontiac was for adults who had to take kids to ballet but didn’t want to totally go “middle age”. I loved Pontiac myself. In fact and still own a Grand Prix. GM is also talking about chopping or selling off Saturn and Hummer as well. So that got me thinking. In these tough times what if our favorite kayak companies had to cut back? What if each one had to cut at least one model from their range? What would you suggest?
Should SeakayakingUK drop the Greenlander? I mean, keep the “Pro” version but who wants an ocean cockpit any more? Personally I love the Greenlander but business is business… You’re Cut! Current Designs has a whole herd of boats. They could cut the Solstice GP Titan for a start? I mean, if you are going to ride the Queen Mary you might as well have nice cabin, 24 hour restaurant and shuffleboard as well. Not that you could’nt fit shuffleboard in a Titan. You’re cut! What about the Valley Q-Boat? Remember? It’s the one with the funny name that was going to be the Anas Acuta HV but wasn’t. Anyway, feel free to offer some suggestions on how your favorite kayak makers could cut some fat and become lean and mean. I know you’ve always wanted to ask, “Would anyone really miss the Necky Eskia”? Oh, if you think I’m being harsh to your favorite kayak, just think of me as I go outside to see if my old Pontiac still starts.
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Posted in Commentary & Rants, Kayaks, Paddling, Random Thoughts | 
Current Designs, greenlander, ndk, Necky, Valley Kayaks, wisconsin3 Responses to You’re Cut
I am not “loyal” to a brand so probably I would not care if they cut some models from any brand that I am familiar with. (Why be loyal to a commercial operation? it’s not like they are family or something… they just give you stuff in exchange of your money, no more no less! the loyalty is a hype created by them to lure you to maintain sales). However in the auto industry maintaining a model on the production line requires great expenditure and if not met by sales it gets canned.
In the kayak industry it’s pretty much the space that a mould takes.
If nobody orders a particular model for years then eventually the mold gets sold off or destroyed.
I wonder if Valley kept the Nordkapp HM. I have not seen a shiny new one for years…
Right. Sometimes you frame a question simply as an exercise. As you say paddling companies don’t have to be too concerned with the costs I suppose although shops on the other hand may be a bit more picky in that they have to hold onto the inventory. They are much more apt to only hold popular models.
I don’t know about the Nordkapp HM. I’ll have to go see…
May I propose a cut to a portion of a product??? Specifically, the ‘glass seat in ALL the Impex boats – the too-short “tractor” model, with no thigh support to speak of. Love the boat (Currituck), hate the seat…