Powersports Business July 2026 | Page 15

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SOLUTIONS

Powersports Business • July 2026 • 15

SHEFFIELD

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NPDA’ s proposed solution, everyone can win. Customers win because they get a cleaner, more honest buying experience. They can compare products more accurately. They can shop with confidence. They are less likely to feel blindsided when they walk into the dealership.
Dealers win because they stop being forced to defend a broken pricing structure. They can focus on selling the value of the product, the dealership, the service department, the ownership experience, and the relationship instead of starting the transaction with an explanation that sounds like an apology.
OEMs win because the brand experience improves. The customer’ s first real interaction with the product is not clouded by frustration over pricing confusion. Trust goes up, and the conflict goes down. The retail channel gets stronger.
This is not about dealers trying to avoid accountability. Quite the opposite. Dealers are the ones on the front lines every day. Dealers are the ones having the conversations with customers. Dealers are the ones who answer the phones, handle the complaints, and try to make the transaction work when the advertised price and the real-world price do not match.
That is why this needs to change. We are making a strong push to have these changes in place for the 2027 model year. That gives the OEMs time to adjust pricing, systems, websites, dealer communications,
Dealers are the ones who
answer the phones, handle the
complaints, and try to make
the transaction work when the
advertised price and the realworld
price do not match.
and internal structures. It is reasonable. It is achievable. But it will not happen unless dealers make their voices heard.
That means every dealer needs to support this initiative.
Call your reps. Email your reps. Text your reps. Bring it up during dealer meetings. Bring it up during 20 Groups. Bring it up at product shows. Bring it up every time you have the opportunity.
Do not assume someone else is handling it. For decades, powersports dealers have struggled to find alignment on the issues that matter. That lack of organization has cost us. It has allowed too many decisions to be made upstream while the consequences landed downstream. But that is changing. The NPDA exists because dealers need a unified voice, and this is exactly the kind of issue where that voice matters.
We also need to be honest about one more thing: if we do not get in front of this ourselves, there is a good chance regulators will.

PLESSNER

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tive tactics. This was pre-internet; back then, we didn’ t have social media influencers with millions of followers. But stories, complaints, and worst-case scenarios were beginning to surface in the news( print and TV) across the country at a concerning pace.
It may have started as a slow-and-steady roll, but once concerned citizens, regulators, and legislators began seeking solutions, we became very active in promoting our own model legislation. We pushed hard to reinforce that PWC were boats, so the same Rules of the Water would apply to everyone. Predictable navigation on the water was key to staying out of harm’ s way.
We partnered with state boating law administrators to create effective educational tools.
We launched a highly successful law enforcement loan program and supported programs that trained water rescue professionals to use PWC to save lives during floods, in swift water, and along coasts.
It worked. Most importantly, our efforts helped bring PWCs and their users into, perhaps grudging, acceptance with the boating community.

WHERE FREEDOM MEETS OPPORTUNITY

JOIN US AS WE CELEBRATE AMERICA’ S 250TH ANNIVERSARY WITH THE NATION’ S LARGEST SELECTION OF PRE-OWNED POWERSPORTS.

SNOWBOARDING The scourge of the mountain— cutting off skiers, ignoring etiquette, with little to no training. The solution wasn’ t a ban. It was terrain parks: a dedicated space where risk-takers could push limits without endangering others. Now those parks are standard at every major resort. Without snowboarders, where would the aging ski industry be today?
THE UPSIDE Motorcycle sales have been cycling downward. The baby boomer base is aging out. Traditional OEMs are watching their core customer demographic shrink. And yet, right now, tens of thousands of kids, maybe hundreds of thousands, are falling in love with two wheels and the freedom of motorized mobility.
The PWC wasn’ t planned as a gateway to boating. It became one. This time, we can be intentional. Kids on illegal e-moto bikes zipping through our communities are our future customers. If we figure out how to guide them through this phase rather than dismiss or ignore it, it could be a massive shot in the arm for the next generation of riders.
But the current trajectory is not heading toward a soft landing. That’ s the conversation we need to start— and we will, in the columns ahead.
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