- Quality Luxury Yachts “Made in China”
Kingship Yacht is located in China, about 100 minutes from Hong Kong in the Pearl River Delta district. Kingship Yacht is the first yacht builder in Asia to specialize in aluminum and steel luxury motor yachts. They are also the first shipyard in Asia to build luxury yachts by full MCA and Lloyd standards. Not to mention the affordable prices, they certainly do.
In a recent advertising campaign, Kingship Yacht placed a very nice photo ad in a leading yachting magazine. Along with the photo, they placed the price in the ad. This is simply unheard of in the yachting world. The general consensus is that if you have to ask, you can’t afford it. Other builders and designers are laughing about the distasteful display by Kingship, but some might agree that Kingship will be laughing, too – all the way to the bank. You see, the luxury yacht that was advertised is comparable to a close competitor’s luxury yacht of the same size and with similar design and amenities, and the capacity to travel just as far as the competitor’s yacht. The price, however, is almost half of that of the competitors. It is true that the ultra-rich buy yachts, and can afford the competitor’s yachts. However, it could be argued that the ultra-rich got that way because they know a good investment when they see one.
The little sticker that says “Made in China” might turn some people off to a luxury yacht because China is not known to manufacture luxury. China is better known as a mass manufacturing country making items for export that you would find in your local retail outlet. “Made in China” has also gotten a bad rap lately because of the massive toy recalls from 2007/2008. So it makes one wonder if the yacht enthusiasts will be quick to buy a multi-million dollar luxury yacht from China, even if they can save multi-millions in the process.
Kingship Yacht doesn’t expect to see their luxury yachts for sale in China. There is no market for them. China poses heavy restrictions on pleasure boating because of the masses of barges and working craft that need the coastline for import/export and fishing. Kingship expects to gain popularity in the more yacht friendly countries and expect to sell their yachts by undercutting the prices of the bigger guys. And so far, they haven’t done too badly.
A prominent marina in the Southern Hemisphere had more than 20 customers lined up for Kingship yachts within the first year. They had already sold several smaller yachts that were made in China with few problems, and the problems they did have were quickly rectified by the manufacturer. Kingship as also quickly received interest from buyers in Europe and Australia.
The reason that Kingship Yacht is able to undercut their competitors by so much is not because they are using cheap materials (they tried it but quickly found them to be unusable) but because they use cheap labor. Many of the materials are imported from other countries such as the steel plates from the Netherlands and engines from the United States and possibly Germany. This shipbuilder is striving for a good, quality luxury yacht, not a mass produced yacht that they can place a little gold sticker on the bottom of.
Several years after the beginning of Kingship Yacht the shipyard is still going strong. They are producing luxury yachts that any owner would be proud to call his own. Kingship’s yachts for sale can be found in marinas around the world. The quality and craftsmanship that is a Kingship Yacht might just be the beginning of the end for the “Made in China” taboo.
