Volvo Penta garners multiple awards at Miami International Boat Show

Volvo Penta was honoured with five prestigious industry awards at the Miami International Boat Show last week, recognising achievements in innovation, customer satisfaction and marketing.

The honours included an Innovation Award from the National Marine Manufacturers Association (NMMA) and Boating Writers International (BWI), an NMMA Customer Satisfaction Index (CSI) Award and three Neptune Awards from the Marine Marketers Association (MMA).

NMMA Innovation Award

The NMMA Innovation Award recognised the Volvo Penta and Seven Marine Outboard Propulsion Experience, which made its debut on the Tiara Sport 38LS at the Miami show. This new system integrates Volvo Penta’s Electronic Vessel Control (EVC) and Seven Marine’s high-performance outboards, packaged with Volvo Penta’s Easy Boating solutions such as joystick driving. The result is an unprecedented combination of outboard power with an inboard experience.

“The marriage between Volvo Penta and its Seven Marine division clearly demonstrates innovation in highly-integrated, and smooth-shifting helm-to-prop outboard propulsion systems,” said Alan Wendt, one of the BWI judges.

Ron Huibers, President and CEO of Volvo Penta of the Americas and Chairman of the Seven Marine board, commented: “We have launched with Tiara Sport the industry’s first fully-integrated system designed to propel bigger boats with outboard performance and inboard features. We’re taking a giant step forward to push the boundaries on what is possible today in outboard technology.”

“This important award is a reflection of our longstanding partnership with Volvo Penta, going back to 2004 when we worked together to package our Tiara Yachts 38 Open with Volvo Penta’s award-winning IPS system,” said Tom Slikkers, CEO and President, S2 Yachts, Inc. “This marks the next step toward a new journey into the future together.”

Award-winning customer satisfaction and marketing

This year marked the 16th consecutive year Volvo Penta earned the CSI Award for its sterndrives. The CSI award signifies the Volvo Penta sterndrives achieved and maintained a standard of 90 percent or higher in customer satisfaction. The index was based on surveys of customers who purchased a new boat or engine during the period from Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, 2018. Volvo Penta is the only marine sterndrive manufacturer to win a CSI award for 16 years in a row.

The annual MMA Neptune award competition recognises excellence in marketing programs and initiatives. This year Volvo Penta won top honours in three categories, in addition to an honourable mention:

• Best Advertising Series – for the Boating Dreams online contest that invited boaters to submit their stories, images and videos of their aspirations on the water and how they use their boats
• Best Sales Promotion – for the dealer-focused program that supported Boating Dreams, utilising displays, brochures and other materials in Volvo Penta dealerships
• Best Public Relations Campaign – for an international press campaign to reveal Volvo Penta’s self-docking yacht concept
• An honourable mention was also received for the Boating Dreams Social Media Campaign, a campaign created in house that featured user generated content.

Commenting on the Best Sales Promotion entry, one of the MMA judges stated: “I found myself thinking about my own boating dreams while looking through the promotion.”

“These five major industry awards are an important validation of our Volvo Penta team’s commitment to excellence, inspiration, creativity and innovation throughout our company, both at our global headquarters in Sweden and in the Americas. It also speaks to the engagement of our dealers, distributors, partners and customers,” said Huibers. “It’s tremendously exciting to work with such a great award-winning team of professionals.”

News of these industry awards comes on the heels of two additional recent Volvo Penta recognitions. Last year, Soundings Trade Only magazine named Volvo Penta one of the Top 10 Most Innovative Companies in the boating industry. This month, Volvo Penta was recognised as a Great Place to Work by a national institute based on an independent survey of employee attitudes and satisfaction.