BRP announcement

Knew the end of the 2-stroke was coming, but didn’t expect the coronavirus to be the death of it:-/
https://www.wired2fish.com/news/brp-discontinues-evinrude-mercury-to-support-boat-packages/

Cajunhunter67:

COVID 19 had nothing to do with the cancellation of  Evinrude outboard. Its lack of earnings for shareholders has been its downfall for years.

The virus is just an excuse to keep investors interested.

Don

Fair enough, but why the agreement with Mercury?

This sucks in the biggest way for me. My boat has been sitting at the factory waiting for a 200 HO since all this Covid stuff started, and now there is no more Evinrude and I have to make a choice on a different motor. I know BassCat is pro black motor, but I need to know the performance differences or what to expect between a Merc and a Yamaha as far as hole shot and top end? What pitch prop would the Merc 200 XS spin versus a Yamaha 200 SHO? The boat in question is a Pantera Classic.

Big question, is Merc going to be able to meet demand and not get themselves in the same situation Yamaha found themselves in.  I’m guessing Yamaha, Suzuki, and Honda are doing back flips over the news.  I see Yamaha/Suzuki continuing to dominate/concentrate on larger salt water/trolling fishing boats,  large pontoons, and keep up with smaller rigs like bass boats.  Merc has a golden opportunity to dominate the US market for bass, speed, smaller pontoons/pleasure boats if they can keep up with demand and this new 4 stroke holds up over time.  Will be interesting next couple years.

SteveD:

Maybe good news for the new player. They make a dandy duck boat motor at an affordable price.

 

https://www.tohatsu.com/marine/int/outboards/BFT250D.html

Can’t imagine that engine makes the torque of the SHO or V8 4-stroke. The stickers on outboards don’t mean much unfortunately, that thing could be making 225hp or 275hp.

The volume of BRP was estimated as only 3% of the outboard market. Mercury can handle the volume for their boats.

Dang, this really stinks…  I prefer 2 strokes over 4.  I wonder if you can order a boat without an engine and then have an overhauled XRI or EFI Merc added to it.