Manufacturing News

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

March 13, 2004

Kawasaki Jet Ski® Watercraft Loan Program
Enters Fifteenth Year

Contact:
Freeman/McCue Public Relations
John Donaldson
(714) 557-3663 ext 219

IRVINE, CA—-Spring 2004 marks the beginning of the Kawasaki’s fifteenth consecutive year of the JET SKI? watercraft public safety loan program.

The nationwide program operates through Kawasaki JET SKI watercraft dealers loaning the JET SKI watercraft to public agencies responsible for marine law enforcement, recreational boating education and safety, and search and rescue. Since the program’s inception in 1989, approximately 1428 individual agencies in all fifty states have borrowed in excess of 5,000 JET SKI watercraft, valued at more than $30 million.

Roger Hagie, director of public affairs at Kawasaki, has managed the program since its beginning. When asked what the most memorable aspect of the program has been, Hagie highlighted the America Cup Races in San Diego in the early ‘90’s.

“Jim Davis, of the U.S. Coast Guard Auxilliary unit in San Diego, got involved in boating education for JET SKI watercraft owners in the late 1980s,” said Hagie . “When the San Diego area Coast Guard Auxilliary units were assigned to help with marine patrol activities during the Cup races, Jim recognized opportunities to use the unique mobility of the JET SKI watercraft to enhance and support the overall mission of the Auxilliary.”

One of the key elements of the loan program that Hagie constantly stresses is the role of the Kawasaki JET SKI watercraft dealer. “The program simply would not work without dealer participation,” says Hagie.

Hagie notes that the loan program began with a suggestion from a long-time Kawasaki dealer Bill Goetz, owner of Jacksonville Power Sports, of Jacksonville, Fla. The dealer was participating in the Kawasaki motorcycle rider education loan program and wondered if a similar program could be developed to help put more law enforcement officers on the recreational waterways.

With that impetus, the program was put together in a manner very similar to the already well-accepted motorcycle program.

The longevity and widespread participation in the previous fourteen years of the JET SKI loan program testifies to the validity of the original concept.

When an agency seeks to get involved with the loan program, it starts by contacting the local Kawasaki JET SKI watercraft dealer. While the program is not mandatory for dealers, most are enthusiastic participants as evidenced by the more than 650 dealers who have made public safety loans over the years.

Entering its fifteenth year, the program has affected nearly every aspect of recreational boating. Through the years, public agencies have used JET SKI watercraft obtained by the loan program for untold thousands of hours of marine safety, enforcement, education, and search and rescue activities. Agencies involved in the program include city police and fire departments, sheriff’s offices, state game wardens, state marine police units, volunteer fire departments and water rescue squads, lifeguard agencies, state marine environmental agencies, park rangers, university-based boating education programs, and several federal marine safety and enforcement agencies.

Program director Hagie summarizes the accomplishments at this milestone date by saying, “The use of JET SKI watercraft by such a broad spectrum of agencies in their widely diverse responsibilities points to the versatility of this watercraft. Kawasaki Motors Corp., U.S.A., is proud to support all these public safety organizations.”

Kawasaki Motors Corp., U.S.A., (KMC) is the wholesale distributor of Kawasaki motorcycles, ATVs, JET SKI watercraft, MULE™ utility vehicles, portable generators, power products, and small engines. Kawasaki’s tagline, Let the good times roll™, is recognized worldwide for the spirit of fun, adventure and high performance that characterizes the Kawasaki recreational vehicle line. Kawasaki product lines are sold through a network of more than 1,500 independent retailers. The company and its affiliates employ nearly 2,400 people in the United States, with approximately 400 of them located at the Irvine, California headquarters.

www.kawasaki.com.