Re: What does this mean for E-Tec?
Let's see if I can confuse you further... A few years ago, dealers bought their engines from the engine builders. Tens or maybe a hundred or so (if you were a big dealer). Bought the boat from the boat builder and the trailer from the trailer boys. Dealer put them all together and you now had a "package". Makes sense right? Then, someone, and let's use..... G#*mar, as an example. (maybe they weren't the first but anyway... ) The really big boys who owned many diffenrnt boat companies decided that they would like to start making some of that engine profit so they, due to their large scale buying power and leverage of "potential using one engine company against another", demanded and got the "killer" outboard discounts from the engine boys. Now, a typical dealer may get a say...11% discount from Merc or Evinrude or Honda directly but G#*mar demanded and got in excess of say... 25% discount. Good deal huh? But G#*mar may have sold those engine to the dealer at... 20% off. So G#*mar just made 5% profit on every motor they didn't have to inventory, didn't even touch! Heck, the engines usually got dropp'd shipp'd from the motor guys straight to the dealer! If you add up all the 5% dollars times thousands of motors... well, G#*mar is/was making millions of bucks and all they did was "push paper" !! Good deal, huh?? Now, in fairness, the dealere got a discount better than if they had of bought directly from the engine builders and in theory, the customer should have seen a "bargin" also on the cost of the engine. So, G#*mar demands a big discount from the motor boys, dealers get a cheaper motor, and maybe the consumer gets it cheaper!! Maybe!! Then, what happens?? G#*mar sells C#**liner, L*nd and L#we to .... Brunswick!! WHAT??? If G#*mar is having such a frick'n tizzie about Brunswick/Mercury owning a motor company AND the boat companies.. Then why did they sell Brunswick the boat companies in the first place?? MONEY!!! G#*mar made a killing on 'em!! Make no mistake! And although I don't really know this... do ya think G#*mar offer'd those boat companies to someone else also?? I bet someone had visions of a bidding war !! BRP, na!! no money!! Yamaha?? Probably could'nt have gotten the japanese to agree to do it! And they'r so frugul they didn't wnat to spend the big bucks that G#*mar wanted/demanded!! But Merc, has a need for transoms, they have the cash and decide to jump at it (it is/was still a good decision, I believe as those are the three aluminum companies to own if any). So Yamy gets all pouty and walks away from the boat companies (and their Yamaha dealers too, thanks alot!!)AND G#*mar gets all pissy about Merc owning, what? too many boat companies... Oh, BTW, I guess you can own alot of boat companies or you can own an engine manufacturer, but it is written SOMEWHERE that you can't own both!! Oh, really?? So, BRP has decided that they won't "sell" motors via the boat builder, but a dealer still can get a "pre-rigg'd" boat from the Brunswick aluminum boat companies. That means, I guess, you can expect those BRP dealers to either get a better deal by buying motors at a yet bigger discount directly from BRP OR you consumers will suffer to buy them at higher prices!! Not to bring up the past... OK, I will! The Japanese WERE guilty of dumping outboards, they just didn't do enough financial damage to the US builders. OH, really. Ask OMC... oh, ya, they're gone huh?? (in fairness, OMCs products really left alot to be desired when they went titz up).So we'll blame upper OMC managment/ownership for that one!) It's strange that I never hear anyone say.... But Yamaha owns Skeeter and G-3, isn't that not a conflict?? But when Merc owns, what?, too many boat companies?? It's wrong! Please! I don't hear anyone complaining about not getting a Yamay on a Bayliner but you can still get a Honda on a Lund, Crestliner or Lowe! If ya want a Etec, tell the dealer! If he was/is an Evinrude dealer, he'll get you one! I should tell you that I don't even think for one moment that Merc is peerfect, but I don't like it when a "pack of wild dogs" chew up on one guy! Don't think that those other guys stuff doesn't stink too! It does!! Ok, I'm off my soapbox, have a nice day!
<br /><br />That was a good post and pretty correct. Both BRP and Yamaha do not want to supply motors to a competitor (Brusnwick) so an individual has to buy the hull and order a motor from a difffernt dealer. Most dealers do handle more than one brand of motor, so that might not be too big a problem.<br /><br />Let's hope they don't do what they (Brunswick)did with Boston Whaler. You cannot buy a bare boat to put a different motor on, it has to come rigged with a Merc, according to several BW dealers. If you want an Yammy, Honda, Evinrude, etc. on a B/W, the dealer has to un-rig the wiring, motor, and controls and re-rig with your stuff, adding hours to the job, meaning big $$$ for setup.