Manufacturers who have lost their significance in recent years

[Matt N]

Hi guys. This thread is basically discussing which manufacturers have lost their significance in recent years, as the title implies. This basically means manufacturers who haven't sold many rides in recent years (I'd probably call this since 2012). I'll start by naming 2 that I can think of off the top of my head:

• Maurer - They have only sold 4 coasters outside of obscure parks in Asia and Eastern Europe in the last 5 years. Admittedly, Happy Valley aren't particularly obscure, but there are too many of them for me to keep track! Also, I do remember Maurer nearly going bankrupt about a year or two ago.
• Premier Rides - To my knowledge, they have literally only sold Sky Rocket IIs and a coaster in Qatar in the last 5 years. So it's essentially Sky Rocket IIs keeping them afloat. EDIT: @Alastair has reminded me that they also built Full Throttle in 2013.

Tell me if you think of any more. These are quite arguable, so post your opinions below! Also, I would like to apologize if I am posting too many threads. The problem is that I just get an idea in my head and feel like posting it.

 

[Alastair]

Hi guys. This thread is basically discussing which manufacturers have lost their significance in recent years, as the title implies. This basically means manufacturers who haven't sold many rides in recent years (I'd probably call this since 2012). I'll start by naming 2 that I can think of off the top of my head:

• Maurer - They have only sold 4 coasters outside of obscure parks in Asia and Eastern Europe in the last 5 years. Admittedly, Happy Valley aren't particularly obscure, but there are too many of them for me to keep track! Also, I do remember Maurer nearly going bankrupt about a year or two ago.
• Premier Rides - To my knowledge, they have literally only sold Sky Rocket IIs and a coaster in Qatar in the last 5 years. So it's essentially Sky Rocket IIs keeping them afloat.

Tell me if you think of any more. These are quite arguable, so post your opinions below! Also, I would like to apologize if I am posting too many threads. The problem is that I just get an idea in my head and feel like posting it.

Premier are maintaining themselves fairly well even just with the Sky Rockets, although they did also build the excellent Full Throttle at SFMM in 2014 which finally showcased an extension of the LIM tech and train designs they had been using on the clones. Gerstlauer have somewhat stolen their thunder on the custom layout magnet launch coasters though in recent years, presumably due to cost - what you do get with Premier is build quality; as showcased by their Revenge of the Mummy coasters still going strong in their respective Universal parks!

Maurer - well, they've pretty much always been garbage. Aside from their spinners I'm struggling to think of a single coaster they've ever build that is generally considered decent. Less of a losing their significance, more of a "every good park already has a spinning coaster and that's the only good model they've ever built" situation.

 

[Tim]

I think it's worth noting in the case of Maurer they do a lot more than just manufacture rides. If you visit their main website they don't even mention the ride division unless you scroll down the page and follow the link to a separate site.

With the rise of Gerstlauer, RMC and Mack (as a thrill ride manufacturer) the market has become very crowded. Putting the company focus on other markets was a good business decision.

 

[venny]

Bit controversial but I’m going to say B&M and Intamin.

I know they’re by no means insignificant but a few years ago it seemed as though with nearly every steel coaster being built the question would be, ‘will it be a B&M or Intamin’ (maybe Vekoma as well, but we hoped not).

Jumping ahead to today’s market that perceived dominance is being challenged by the rise of Mack and Gerstlauer (even RMC), particularly in the mature European and North American markets.

So whilst I don’t think these two are insignificant they feel like they’re certainly less significant than they were say 15 years ago.

 

[Matt N]

Bit controversial but I’m going to say B&M and Intamin.

I know they’re by no means insignificant but a few years ago it seemed as though with nearly every steel coaster being built the question would be, ‘will it be a B&M or Intamin’ (maybe Vekoma as well, but we hoped not).

Jumping ahead to today’s market that perceived dominance is being challenged by the rise of Mack and Gerstlauer (even RMC), particularly in the mature European and North American markets.

So whilst I don’t think these two are insignificant they feel like they’re certainly less significant than they were say 15 years ago.

They do still build a decent quantity of rides per year, but I completely get what you mean. Around 10-15 years ago, the only options you had for a quality thrill ride were B&M and Intamin unless you wanted quite a niche sort of ride. I suppose Vekoma were there and the last remnants of Arrow Dynamics had just vanished from the industry. But now, in 2017, there are a whole myriad of companies who can provide that. Mack, Gerstlauer, Vekoma... the list goes on. These are added on to B&M and Intamin.

 

[Ted]

Bit controversial but I’m going to say B&M and Intamin.

I know they’re by no means insignificant but a few years ago it seemed as though with nearly every steel coaster being built the question would be, ‘will it be a B&M or Intamin’ (maybe Vekoma as well, but we hoped not).

Jumping ahead to today’s market that perceived dominance is being challenged by the rise of Mack and Gerstlauer (even RMC), particularly in the mature European and North American markets.

So whilst I don’t think these two are insignificant they feel like they’re certainly less significant than they were say 15 years ago.

I think the thing with B&M in particular as well is because they're so high quality and big named (and some medium named) parks that can afford them already have a selection of rides from them. Still doing healthy though, but have slowed down compared to when they first came onto the scene.

Intamin on the other hand have fallen down a lot. Even just 10 years ago, they use to be at least the 2nd best coaster manufacturer, but the bad publicity with some of their rides and their troubled relationship with Cedar Fair has slowed down their installations dramatically. It's a shame, because Taron (which only opened last year) proves that can still make a solid coaster.

 

[Matt N]

Intamin on the other hand have fallen down a lot. Even just 10 years ago, they use to be at least the 2nd best coaster manufacturer, but the bad publicity with some of their rides and their troubled relationship with Cedar Fair has slowed down their installations dramatically. It's a shame, because Taron (which only opened last year) proves that can still make a solid coaster.

I think that Intamin had a bit of a quiet period in the Western world between about 2012 and about 2015, but are starting to have somewhat of a resurgence in the Western world; what with Taron, Wave Breaker and Hyperion being built. I think Walibi Belgium's 2021 Hyper is also looking likely to be an Intamin. But I do think there are some parks who have always stuck with Intamin. Names like Djurs Sommerland and Hersheypark spring to mind.