For one, Wave to Wave intentionally doesn’t do “news” articles for many reasons but sometimes the news is too big to ignore. Valcourt, Quebec, BRP (TSX: DOO; NASDAQ: DOOO) announced today it has re-oriented its marine business by focusing on the growth of its boat brands with new technology and innovative marine products. our evinrude customers We are proud to have supplied you with outboard engines over the past 110 years. This hurt Evinrude sales in a huge segment. Evinrude had a lot of trouble with product overlap with the legacy Etec engines when the new G2 was launched. Ambition was high and set on growing boat brands along with innovative marine products. Sometimes these strategies and decisions are made by people with MBA degrees who spend more time on spreadsheets than on the water and don’t have their finger on the pulse. This won’t be a news article though, I want to look at the brief history of Evinrude but I mostly want to look at what went wrong and why. evinrude out of business warranty. They had 2 different 200 versions, 2.7L and 3.4L, and all through the lineup they had models that didn’t add value. Although I am a Mercury guy through and through, I don’t generally have outward bias, and it truly bothers me for the industry to lose such a storied brand. Eventually, Evinrude with Johnson outboards became part of Outboard Marine Corporation, which declared bankruptcy in 2000. The Evinrude name stepping out of the outboard business would be akin to Ford announcing it would no longer build automobiles. This business segment had already been facing some challenges, and the impact from the current context has forced our hand,” BRP president and CEO José Boisjoli, said in a statement. © Copyright 2020 Endgame360 Inc. All Rights Reserved. It’s important to understand that BRP, which owns Evinrude, is fine, they are continuing with their recreational products and other segments of their marine business. This means no more Evinrude E-Tec or E-Tec G2 Outboards. Focusing on the G2 and moving away from the Etec line might have been a better strategy. Some workers will be recalled and gradually laid off through September. The rest of the industry dropped that type of engine years ago. My Dad was a Mercury dealer in the seventies, but the first boat I drove as a little kid had a 4.5 Evinrude. It will eliminate 400 jobs at its manufacturing plant in Sturtevant, Wisconsin, just outside of Chicago. “You can talk to someone until you’re blue in the face, but they want four-strokes,” says Pekora, an Evinrude dealer in New Jersey. 650 people out of work, many in Wisconsin. Tracy Crocker, president of Evinrude would head up the new BRP Marine Group. It will now buy engines for these brands from former competitor Mercury Marine.Â, BRP also makes Ski-Doo snowmobiles, Sea-Doo watercraft, and Can-Am all-terrain vehicles. Bombardier had acquired Evinrude out of the OMC bankruptcy in 2001. Uncategorized. Seen here on our Project Activator 22’. The Evinrude engine was invented by Ole Evinrude in 1907, and they have been built in Wisconsin since 1907. VALCOURT, Quebec, May 27, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — BRP (TSX: DOO; NASDAQ: DOOO) announced today it has re-oriented its marine business by focusing on the growth of its boat brands with new technology and innovative marine products. Evinrude Outboard Motors was a North American company that built a major brand of outboard motors for boats. BRP had acquired the Evinrude and Johnson brands three years earlier out of the wreckage of former parent company Outboard Marine Corporation’s (OMC) bankruptcy. Our Sturtevant, WI, facility, will be repurposed for new projects to pursue our plan to provide consumers with an unparalleled experience on the water. Bombardier picked up the outboard business from OMC in a 2001 firesale. There is so much value in that brand, I could see someone acquiring the Evinrude brand and G2 technology for pennies on the dollar. The Evinrude part of the business had been losing money for a while and the covid-19 crisis was the tipping point for finally shutting down this unprofitable part of their business. At the time it seemed like the perfect match. There is a reason I chose the G2 250 HO for the Activator project, it was the best 250 on the market. Ole sold the business in 1914. Mercury Marine will take over powering BRP brand boats. With Evinrude discontinued, Mercury Marine has entered into a strategic supply agreement with BRP to be the supplier of choice for BRP owned boat brands Alumacraft, Manitou, Quintrex & Stacer. But let’s not turn this into a marketing article. Evinrude had a lot of trouble with product overlap with the legacy Etec engines when the new G2 was launched. Evinrude wasn’t run particularity well, but if Covid never happened, I have no doubt other avenues would’ve been explored before the plug was pulled. That’s one problem. Quebec-based BRP on Wednesday announced the immediate end of Evinrude outboard engine production at its Marine Propulsion Systems facility, 10101 Science Drive, in Sturtevant. Evinrude started losing ground to Mercury and also Yamaha by falling behind in the power race. They have announced they will discontinue the manufacturing of outboard engines and have made an agreement with Mercury Marine to support boat packages. The announcement leaves Evinrude’s global workforce of 650, most of them in Sturtevant, Wisconsin, out of work. "Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.". The Evinrude G2 250 HO is an amazing outboard and was loaded with unique features. Another issue is trying to compete on volume when you are a niche player. They had unique and very competitive engines, in fact when it comes to some features, they were leaders. “It was like Packers and Bears,” said Charles Plueddeman, a writer for Boating Magazine to USA Today. While I wasn’t an Evinrude fan, I still think it’s a bad deal that they closed up. They recently launched their new 115 - 150 G2 line. When my Dad was young he raced in community races in the fifties and sixties. That might mean not making engines under 115 HP, streamlining the the lineup and creating value behind their innovation. By not having legit performance outboards and instead relying on “HO” branded engines that are merely decals, you give up marketing opportunities and premier product opportunities. It was a multibillion-dollar Fortune 500 corporation. The 2.7L was too heavy and gave up the competitive advantages that Evinrude should've had in that segment. I actually don’t think so. We will discontinue production of Evinrude E-TEC and E-TEC G2 outboard engines. All signs were pointing to a long term strategy that appeared to be working. Mercury has done this exceptionally well for a long time. Outboard Marine Corporation (OMC) was a maker of Evinrude, Johnson and Gale Outboard Motors, and many different brands of boats. Since he had trouble lifting the engine, he took the boats to a beach and used the beach to help move the motor over, he clamped it on, set it up and made his way over to the race. Sign up with your email address to receive news and updates. The iconic Canadian outboard motor manufacturer is out of business. Evinrude had a lot of trouble with product overlap with the legacy Etec engines when the new G2 was launched. Evinrude wasn’t in the 300 HP + space and that hurt them. This business segment had already faced some challenges and the impact of the current context has forced our hands, ”said José Boisjoli, BRP president and CEO. May 27, 2020 wasn’t a good day for the industry but whatever happens from here it was a hell of a ride. Dealers insist consumers want four-stroke engines like Mercury and Yamaha sell. The right operator could make it work. In spite of that BRP insists it had no other choice. It’s a funny story now. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Norwester Media LLC and Wave to Wave. No one saw this coming. Could Evinrude have been sold? He told me a story about switching the engine on his boat, a 14’ Unicraft, to run a 40 HP Evinrude he borrowed from his uncle. BRP, in a statement on its website, said, that it has … BRP had acquired Alumacraft and Manitou Pontoon boats that had them create a new division, BRP Marine Group a couple years ago. I’m a little surprised BRP missed that part because if there was one thing missing from Evinrude, it was a little passion. RELATED: What Happens if You Get in an Accident While Towing a Boat? Mercury Marine, its closest competitor, is located not far from Milwaukee in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. Mercury went after the saltwater business. Mercury and Yamaha had lighter engines with gear ratios more suitable to that class and so it was difficult to market those engines. The news coincides with BRP’s quarterly earnings report on May 28, 2020. We will discontinue production of Evinrude E-TEC and E-TEC G2 outboard engines. By the time I bought a new boat in '88 (my old 20' Sea Ox having been powered by a 115 Johnson), I put a put a pair of 150 Yamahas on the back. Evinrude had legacy Etec engines alongside the new G2 engines for too long. Evinrude over the years has had many game changing innovations and some catastrophic failures. It plans on keeping the plant to develop a line of recreational boats that place the engines under the deck as opposed to being attached to the transom like a traditional outboard.Â. Founded by Ole Evinrude in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1907, it was formerly owned by the publicly traded Outboard Marine Corporation (OMC) since 1935 but OMC filed for bankruptcy in 2000. This is a difficult article to write for many reasons. Re: OMC Johnson are they out of business? What was wrong at Evinrude? “Our outboard engines business has been greatly impacted by Covid-19, obliging us to discontinue production of our outboard motors immediately. Their two stroke technology was extremely efficient and in some ways out performed many four strokes. “This business segment had already been facing some challenges and the impact from the current context has forced our hand,” he said in the release. The industry that only had 5 main competitors now is down to 4, with only one being made in the US. Evinrude Discontinued Just in from BRP. The SLX gearcase is a formidable one and used on the 2.7L 150 to 300 HP G2 engines. They are in fact a very profitable company and their jetski business is doing very well. Evinrude G2 engines had the most innovative steering system on the market, a completely integrated unit. October 10, 2020. Best Cities for Jobs 2020 And, the news that BRP is discontinuing production of Evinrude outboards came as a surprise to many. Ole Evinrude was the first to market with an outboard engine in 1909. What I mean by that is, focus on what you do best, and run that, don’t try to out do Yamaha or Mercury at their game. In a letter to state officials — in accordance with Wisconsin Business Closing and Mass Layoff Law — BRP said it would eliminate a total of 387 positions in Sturtevant, including employees currently on furlough. It will eliminate 400 jobs at its manufacturing plant in Sturtevant, Wisconsin, just outside of Chicago. 0 “I believe this corporate move has been hashed over at the highest level for several months. They also owned several lines of boats such as Chris Craft, Lowe Boats, Princecraft, Four Winns, SeaSwirl, Stratos, and Javelin. 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