Bombardier Recreational Products (BRP) rocked the boating industry last week when it announced it was discontinuing production of its Evinrude E-TEC and E-TEC G2 outboards. If you had to re-read that first sentence a couple times you’re not alone. A few days have now passed as this shocking news has made its way around the globe, yet the sting remains as strong as ever. Some retirement parties are better than others, but this is one very few if any outside the company saw coming.
Although debated by some, it supposedly started with a melted ice cream cone and a row boat that inspired Ole Evinrude. Whatever his motivation, it was Evinrude who is credited as developing the first commercially viable outboard engine in 1909. After celebrating 110 years of innovation last year, the outboard brand ranging from 3.5 to 300hp appeared to have several milestone celebrations in its future, which is why this news is so hard to still comprehend.
BRP president and CEO José Boisjoli put some of the blame on the COVID-19 pandemic, but from an outside perspective it seems regardless of how hard Evinrude tried, the general public just had a hard time accepting its two-stroke technology.
With a career centered on pontoons, I can relate to battling a perception. Today luxurious pontoons dominate boat shows and have been one of the best-selling segments in the boating industry for over ten years. However, back in the early 2000s I spent a lot of my time convincing people pontoon boats were no longer rickety old vessels with Astroturf carpet and patio lawn chairs.
Despite four-stroke technology in the outboard segment soaring, Evinrude believed in its two-stroke E-TEC and E-TEC G2 engines. They were the only company who had direct injection technology across its entire line and I personally could see the advantages. I figured most people could also easily see Evinrude engines were not the same old smoky two-strokes of years past that all manufacturers were offering decades ago, but rather the E-TECs were loaded with innovation and belonged on the same playing field even though the rest of the outboard manufacturers had moved on to four-strokes. However, in the end it appears not enough consumers could see those advantages.
Alumacraft and Manitou boat companies were acquired by BRP in 2018, followed by the acquisition of Australian boat manufacturer Telwater in 2019. These established boat brands were added to BRP’s full lineup that includes Ski-Doo and Lynx snowmobiles, Sea-Doo water craft and Quintrex, Stacer and Savage boats along with the Rotax marine propulsion system. The Canadian company is now going to concentrate its efforts on the boat brands instead of the outboard power, which opened the door for Mercury Marine.
While announcing the company's decision to discontinue E-TEC and E-TEC G2 outboard engines, they also made it clear than an agreement with Mercury had been reached to support its boat packages and continue to supply outboard engines to BRP's boat brands.
As for its dealer network, BRP said it will honor all warranties, continue to supply parts and offer “select programs” to manage inventory.
This decision is estimated to impact 650 employees globally, not exactly the news nearly 400 people from the Sturtevant, Wis., facility wanted to hear. Two-strokes held on for a lot longer than some experts predicted, but in the end Evinrude’s loyalty to this technology coupled with consumers perception lead to the decision to discontinue.
