It is a story of passion, loyalty and solidarity. It has its roots in a small town on the Bodanrück, which divides the north-western part of Lake Constance into the Überlinger See and the Untersee: in Dettingen, a district of Constance with a population of around 3,000. It is home to the Diebold Marine Centre, which has been dedicated to a renowned US boat brand - Stingray - since it was founded by Harald Diebold in 1992.
Diebold lived out his passion for the high-quality, high-performance and sleekly designed sports boats from Hartsville in the state of South Carolina. He infected others with his passion and conquered the market - far beyond Lake Constance. The Diebold Marine Centre has now been Germany's general importer for Stingray for two decades. This brand loyalty has resulted in a close relationship with the customers, which the dealer has united to form a large Stingray family. This is particularly evident at the two in-house boat shows in autumn after Interboot Friedrichshafen and at the start of the season in spring, when more than 400 boaters come to the Bodanrück every day, quite a few of them from over 300 km away.
The fact that this bond exists not only with customers, but also within the Marine Centre team, became clear when Harald Diebold died in 2007 after a serious illness, which he seemed to have conquered after a brave fight. His crew stuck together and supported Martina Keller, who decided to carry on her late partner's life's work. "I couldn't just give up," says the current owner and managing director, looking back. Together, the Marine Centre team got Germany's Stingray "flagship" through this difficult time. This solidarity is also reflected in the extremely low staff turnover. Martina Keller is proud of her "nice little family business". The "big family" of Stingray owners also feels at home here.
Marine-Center Diebold can currently offer fans of this boat brand around 20 different Stingray models from 18 to 25 feet from the open sports boats, sports boats with cabins, outboard models and exclusive sports series model ranges. Because they wanted to create a suitable step-up option for long-standing customers who want to expand beyond 25 feet, the Stingray importer has also been selling eleven models from the traditional US boat brand Rinker from just under 25 to 36 feet since 2013.
Brand loyalty, regular presence at the major German boat shows and in-house exhibitions alone are not a sufficient explanation for close customer loyalty. The decisive factor is the outstanding service that is attributed to the Dettingen boat and engine specialists: It ranges from interior and exterior boat refurbishment to engine servicing and repair, underwater painting of all kinds, installation of all boat accessories, winterising and winter storage (more than 150 winter storage spaces) and mobile customer service on water and on land.
In addition, there is a spare parts warehouse for Stingray parts, which is in demand throughout Germany, as well as for Volvo Penta and MerCruiser engines and drives, which are now supplied ex works with up to 300 hp and are suitable for use on the sea (BSO II emissions standard). Of course, Diebold also sells used boats of various makes. Test drives? No problem! The "home port" of the Marine Centre is three kilometres away by car in Wallhausen on Lake Überlingen.
Info: Marine-Center Diebold GmbH, Wendelsbergstraße 5, 78465 Konstanz-Dettingen, phone 07533-93 500, fax 07533-93 50 20, www.marine-center.de
