Stop Discounting the Whole Showroom to Fix One Slow Category

Direct Answer 

A slow corner of the showroom is not evidence the whole floor is slow. BRP's most recent quarter posted 18.5% revenue growth with dealer inventory up only 2%, a clear sign demand is moving by category, not storewide. Match the offer to the specific inventory problem instead of discounting everything to fix one corner. 

Picture a hypothetical Monday meeting: personal watercraft have slowed, a few carryovers are aging, and the team wants a storewide sale. Soon, the same discount reaches the utility machines that were already attracting buyers. One category's problem has become everybody's margin reduction. 

The Number That Should Worry Every Sales Manager Isn't the One They're Reacting To 

BRP reported fiscal second-quarter revenue of CA$2.24 billion for the period ended July 31, up 18.5% from CA$1.89 billion a year earlier, driven largely by ORV shipments and a favorable side-by-side mix, Powersports Business reported Sept. 8. Dealer inventory, meanwhile, grew just 2% year-over-year — healthy, not bloated. North American retail sales rose 1% overall, with side-by-side retail up in the mid-single digits, ahead of low-single-digit industry growth, even as seasonal-product and personal-watercraft demand softened. 

That's a two-speed market inside a single OEM's own numbers: one category outperforming, one category cooling, both showing up on the same lot in the same month. A sales meeting that reacts to "personal watercraft are slow" by discounting the whole floor is applying a PWC read to a UTV that's already moving at full margin. 

An RV dealer can apply the same discipline to its own floorplans, model years, and price points without assuming boat or UTV trends describe its market. The point isn't that every store faces BRP's exact split — it's that a single storewide read almost never matches what's actually happening category by category. 

When Financing, Not Price, Is the Real Obstacle 

Sometimes the unit isn't overpriced — the payment is the obstacle, and a price cut doesn't fix a payment problem. Malibu Boats' MBI Acceptance financing program has signed up roughly 33% to 40% of Malibu's dealer network since launching about nine months ago, with applications climbing steadily, President and CEO Steve Menneto said on the company's Aug. 27 fiscal fourth-quarter earnings call, as reported by Auto Finance News. The company is leaning on financing and extended-service products specifically to reach payment-sensitive buyers still sidelined by affordability pressure. 

A buyer who's hesitating on payment, not price, doesn't need $2,000 off the sticker — they need a term that fits their budget, or a lender who will actually approve them. Cutting the price on that unit gives away margin without solving the actual objection. That's the same diagnostic failure as a blanket discount: treating every hesitation as a price problem because price is the easiest lever to pull in a Monday meeting. 

Diagnose the Unit Before Prescribing the Discount 

Start with category, model year, days in stock, recent qualified inquiries, appointments, written quotes, and lost-sale reasons. Compare genuinely similar local inventory, including equipment and disclosed fees — not just the cheapest advertised headline. 

Separate four questions. Is demand weak? Is this particular unit wrong for your shoppers? Are interested buyers encountering an obstacle other than price — financing, availability, a missing accessory, an unclear delivery timeline? Or is the unit fine and the read on it simply wrong? 

A carryover with repeated price objections may need a markdown. A current model getting inquiries but few visits may need a better explanation or demonstration. A unit with no inquiries may have an exposure or assortment problem. A unit drawing interest that stalls at the finance desk, per the MBI Acceptance pattern above, may need a financing conversation before it needs a markdown. Cutting all four by the same percentage skips the diagnosis.

Common Questions 

Does this mean a dealership should never run a storewide sale? 

No. It means the trigger should be evidence — aging data, carrying cost, a real price gap — on a defined set of units, not a mood in the Monday meeting. A true storewide event, like a model-year changeover, is still a legitimate call. The failure is using the same blanket percentage on healthy inventory as a Band-Aid for one slow corner. 

How do I estimate the actual carrying cost of an aging unit? 

Add floorplan interest, insurance, and any required upkeep across the days on lot, then compare that running total against the realistic net from selling now at a smaller discount. Industry estimates commonly place that combined cost around $30-$40 per unit per day. 

What if the whole category really is soft, not just one unit? 

Then a category-specific promotion, not a storewide one, is the right tool. BRP's own numbers show personal watercraft softening while side-by-sides grew mid-single digits in the same quarter — treating those as one "market" would misprice both. 

Give Inventory One of Three Instructions ‍

Hold price where demand and comparable pricing support it — protect margin; improve availability, response, and presentation. Improve the offer where interested buyers name a specific obstacle: address delivery, setup, orientation, or an eligible finance option, and disclose terms and count the cost. An included accessory or delivery service is not free to the dealership — compare its actual cost with the discount it replaces, and offer it only when the customer values it. Do not disguise the cost through fees, an inflated trade allowance, or unwanted products; a lower payment achieved through a longer loan also changes total borrowing cost. Mark down where evidence points to a real price gap or deteriorating exit economics — choose the unit, the markdown limit, an owner, and a review date before launching. 

The math behind "markdown" isn't abstract. Aging inventory carries a real cost even before a single discount dollar is spent: industry estimates commonly place the daily carrying cost of an aged unit — floorplan interest, insurance, and required upkeep combined — around $30 to $40 per unit per day. A growing number of RV and powersports operators now treat 90 days on lot as the trigger point for a structured markdown rather than a discretionary call, a shift known as the "90-Day Rule" spreading across RV retail as dealers look to cut the losses aged inventory quietly accumulates. That's the math a storewide sale skips: it applies the same markdown to a unit at day 12 as a unit at day 120, when only one of them is actually accruing that daily cost.

Where each layer of the deal typically breaks down

Put a Deadline on Waiting 

Holding out for more gross is a decision to spend money and accept market risk. Estimate incremental floorplan interest, storage, required upkeep, and the likely net selling result over a defined period. Include any incentive expiration or expected markdown once — not twice. 

Synthetic example: Selling now leaves $1,800 in contribution after the relevant direct costs. Waiting might produce $2,400 before an additional $750 of carrying costs. That leaves $1,650 — less than selling today, even if the hoped-for price materializes. These numbers are illustrative, not a benchmark. 

Use realistic sale probabilities and alternative outcomes, not a guaranteed future buyer. That does not mean every aging unit must go immediately. It means "we'll get our price eventually" needs evidence and a review date. 

Make the Campaign as Selective as the Decision 

Build the promotion around the inventory you actually need to move. State which units qualify, what the offer includes, and when it ends. Give the sales team the same boundaries and require approval for exceptions. Keep unrelated, healthy inventory out of the markdown by default. 

Then review targeted sell-through and total contribution after discounts and offer costs. Check whether buyers simply switched from a full-margin unit to a discounted substitute. A strong weekend unit count alone cannot tell you whether the promotion improved the business. 

Before the next storewide sale, split the showroom. Put ten units into hold, improve, or markdown groups. If the team cannot explain why each belongs there, the promotion is not ready.

About the Author 

Josh Harnish is Customer Success Manager at One Dealer Lane, where he works with dealer teams across powersports, marine, and RV to build inventory and promotion discipline that protects margin instead of masking a category-specific problem with a storewide discount. 

Sources

1. Powersports Business — "BRP Q2: ORV demand drives growth as dealer inventory remains healthy" (Sept. 8, 2026) — https://powersportsbusiness.com/news/brp/2026/09/08/brp-q2-orv-demand-drives-growth-as-dealer-inventory-remains-healthy/ 
2. Auto Finance News — "Malibu Boats finance platform reaches 40% of dealer network" (Aug. 28, 2026) — https://www.autofinancenews.net/allposts/powersports/malibu-boats-finance-platform-reaches-40-of-dealer-network/ 
3. TrueRVs — "The Hidden Cost of Stale Inventory: Why Aging RVs Kill Dealer Margins" (2026) — https://truervs.com/blog/the-hidden-cost-of-stale-inventory-why-aging-rvs-kill-dealer-margins/ 
4. Titan.AI / Rapidious — "90-Day Rule: The Pricing Shift U.S. RV Dealers Must Make" (2026) — https://www.rapidious.com/post/rv-inventory-aging-90-day-rule-pricing-strategy