Manufacturers tweak current golf car offerings

The ‘big three’ golf car manufacturers have planned few changes to their main lines for 2003, but that does not mean they are resting on their laurels. Club Car and Yamaha Golf Car (YGC) and E-Z-GO Textron are all bringing new features, services or offerings, designed to make life easier for their customers, to the table.

Refurbished cars

Earlier this year, Club Car, based in Augusta, Ga., made a foray into the used golf car market with its REserve program. Club Car now offers customers previously owned and refurbished golf cars backed by the Club Car brand.

Under the program, Club Car will take back golf cars coming off lease and send them through a refurbishing process, then sell or lease them to customers at a substantially lower price than a new fleet of cars, said Brian Crawford, vice president of sales, aftermarket.

“There is a significant amount of demand in the market today for a lower-priced golf car that still offers the assurance of the Club Car brand,” Crawford said. “This program helps us address that market with a consistently high-quality product offering that gives our customers great value.”

For the most part, the vehicles that go through the program this year will be electric. They will be sent to either Club Car’s main plant in

Augusta or to its custom manufacturing facility in Indio, Calif., to go through the refurbishment process. Club Car’s refurbishment teams will put the cars through a mechanical inspection of the chassis, suspension, steering, electrical and brake systems to ensure the cars are performing to original factory specifications. They will then replace the body (front and rear), bumpers, scuff guards, bag well protector and access panel. In addition to this thorough inspection, seats, tires, canopy top, batteries and battery chargers will be tested to make sure they are in good condition and are not damaged or defective.

All cars purchased through the REserve program will be covered by a limited warranty.

In the past, distributors and have sold golf cars coming off lease to secondary courses or individuals. The REserve program was developed to address the slow economy and the need for lower-cost vehicles, Crawford said.

“This is an opportunity for Club Car to provide a solution to our customers that offers a lower price alternative to new product while maintaining the quality image the industry has come to expect from us,” he said.

Club Car has also expanded its relationship with GPS provider UpLink this year. In January, the two announced their first collaborative offering, IQLink (GCN, March 2003), which integrates Club Car’s IQ system with UpLink’s wireless communication system. The offering allows courses to have full control over golf cars, including setting maximum speeds in certain areas and keeping golf cars out of other areas altogether.

Diagnostics made easier

YGC of Newnan, Ga., is sticking with its GMAX line of golf cars this year, but is adding a Palm-based diagnostic system called Genius, according to Chris Wall, national marketing manager for YGC. The company plans to announce the feature at its June 7 distributor meeting.

Using any Palm-based personal digital assistant (PDA), a mechanic, manager or superintendent can change settings on the golf car, including maximum speed and downhill braking power. More importantly, users can download information on number of rounds used and battery life at the touch of a button. Best of all, Wall said, the tools used for these functions are relatively inexpensive and are not proprietary to YGC.

“With this, you can buy a Palm Pilot for $80 and we supply the software,” Wall said.

The Genius system will be sold as an option to YGC customers who wish to use it. Wall said it will save courses both money and time.

“If they’ve got their own mechanic and they want to diagnose the whole fleet to see how many rounds the whole fleet has gone, he can diagnose the whole fleet very quickly,” Wall said. “You’re talking about 30 seconds to a minute per car to download the information off the car. Without something like this, you have to go back to your written records and physically check the charge on the batteries.”

Wall promised a major announcement about YGC’s golf car line in the near future, but declined to be more specific.

“You’ll probably see something new from us on the golf car side within a year but we won’t be announcing it at this meeting,” he said. “But our guys are feverishly working on something right now.”

Expanding personal car line

E-Z-GO, also based in Augusta, is expanding its offerings in the realm of personal cars, which were introduced at the GCSAA Conference and Show in February. With a current lineup of the 2003 Freedom, Freedom SE and Freedom LE, E-Z-GO has tripled its individual car offerings.

The Freedom is the entry-level model. It includes a four-cup drink holder, center storage basket, low oil and fuel gauges or a state-of-charge meter. It is available in electric or gas configurations as well as the computer-controlled performance configuration Precision Drive System. This model starts at $5,995.

The Freedom SE is intended for country club members or private neighborhood residents. In addition to the Freedom features, it offers headlights, tail lights and a horn, with a suggested starting price of $6,255.

The top of the Freedom line is the LE model, which is geared toward customization. It adds a number of paint color options, a wood grain dashboard, aluminum mag wheel tires, turn signals, a top and windshield to the features of the SE model. It starts at $7,625.

Kim Hegel, marketing manager for the Freedom line, said the customization features of the LE were provided in response to customers’ desires to “individualize” their cars.

“Individual golf car buyers are just that – individual,” said Kim Hegel, marketing manager for the Freedom product line. “We listened to their varying customization, product feature and price point requests and responded with three golf car models.”