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Posts: 429
| http://muskie.outdoorsfirst.com/article.asp?aid=374 |
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Posts: 2515
Location: Waukesha & Land O Lakes, WI | Looks like the official motors for Lund and Crestliner will now be Mercury!!!!! This is a huge move for Mercury Marine! I doubt you'll be seeing any more Japanese motors hanging off Lunds or Crestliners in brochures or ads. |
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Location: Minneapolis, MN | Didn't Mercury get in trouble for giving Brunswick boat companies "special" pricing many years ago? I don't think they will repeat that mistake. |
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Posts: 2515
Location: Waukesha & Land O Lakes, WI | Brunswick ownes Mercury. Maybe we'll see better "package" pricing on rigs now. This is definately Merc/Brunswick's answer to Japanese manufactuers "price dumping" to American dealers!
I think this may help boat buyers in the long run, we'll see.
Edited by Gander Mt Guide 3/8/2004 9:44 AM
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Posts: 2384
Location: On the X that marks the mucky spot | I wonder what this will do to the RCL tournament? |
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Posts: 32886
Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | Good question. FLW is owned by IJ, so his interests were directly reflected in the RCL tour. Now that the C and L of the RCL belong to Brunswick, that might change, I would guess. Maybe there will be Tuffys and Yar Crafts, Warriors and G3s, Alumacrafts and Trackers out on the RCL tour next year! |
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Posts: 2515
Location: Waukesha & Land O Lakes, WI | This will be interesting....basically the RCL was a tournament trail for Genmar advertising. You even got a bonus for using Yamaha motors. I bet the RCL will evolve into more of a PWT with differnet rules and format, kinda like the PMTT and WMT. |
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Posts: 1335
Location: Chicago, Beverly | I don't see Lowe sticking around as it is a hold over from when OMC sold off their boat units to Genmar. Brunswick was already pretty heavy with Aluminum brands. I wonder how this will affect Bombadier/OMC since they just got some deal going with Genmar to supply engines to their various boat brands. Granted, this is from December 2002: http://www.evinrude.com/docs/311/9_728_US.htm
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Posts: 1430
Location: Eastern Ontario | Wow I just purchased my first boat the isn't a Brunswick but becomes one 5 months later.  I was palanning on going to glass for my next boat next year so this may do nothing for me. |
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Posts: 1769
Location: Algonquin, ILL | Another thing to consider is how this sale will affect Jobs, Many times Jobs are eliminated due to redundancies
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Posts: 32886
Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | I wouldn't expect jobs to be effected at all, as Lowe, Lund, and Crestliner are seperate entities built a good distance from one another. Also, Lowe is a major builder ( the result of consolidation of all of the OMC aluminum lines) unlikely to be absorbed or eliminated. |
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Posts: 1189
Location: Bagley,MN 56621 | I saw a similar notice, but with a few extras.
For those concerned about buying one of these Aluminum boats without a Merc, they said that there will still be that choice offered to customers..also stated that the RCL will remain the same.
I'll see if I can find it at work tomorrow.
In my persoanl opinion I see some awesome things going to happen with fiberglass (or other materials) boats in the future.
As I toured the Ranger factory a year ago and saw the progression of bass boats in the last 35 years...I asked my self, whats next?
Can the layout/fishability/beam,etc get any better??
The next step is in construction and materials....look for lighter,thinner stronger material and process's. |
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Posts: 358
| Not knowing anything at all about the Brunswick Co, my concern as a consumer is that I hope that the quality and tradition of boats such as LUND do not suffer in this move. Many times in industry when events like this happen, the new owners seem to think that they can build a "better mouse trap" so to speak. Production methods, materials, get omitted or substituted and the end results are devistating. Furthermore, many of these problems wont show up until months or even years later. Many times, after the damage has all ready been done. I have witnessed this personally in private business when one company buys out another, and the new owners decide that they can build the products for less & faster. Only to have warranty issues, bad customer relations be the only true result of the changes that they made.
As far as the motor deals that go along with the boat packages offered by dealers, I am completely in the dark on this subject. I have a Yammy on my LUND, and I wouldnt have any other motor on it. I did happen to notice though in a recent Ranger ad, that the boat was pictured with a Yamaha on the back. Almost all the Ranger ads I have seen previously used Merc's in the photos.
Boy this is a long winter!!!!!!!! |
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Location: Minneapolis, MN | It is possible that Brunswick will "rationalize assets" after the acqusition. Companies often purchase other companies to get the assets more then the products. When you buy assets for pennies on the dollar you can optimize your network of manufacuting assets and start making some of your higher cost (Not higher price) products at the locations with the lowest operating and asset costs, thereby making the entire portfolio of products more profitable. For example; Remember when Champion went into bankruptcy and Mr. Jacobs purchased the assets from the court? I believe the Champ plant is now making some salt water Rangers now instead of the Champ products and the Champ products are now made at another plant (Javelin?). I recall reading that somewhere. |
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| Another interesting factor is that Brunswick/Mercury Marine also owns Motorguide trolling motors. Which means you may be able to buy a complete package from one company, at a lower cost I hope.
Good luck, Murph |
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Posts: 1335
Location: Chicago, Beverly | Yeah, but what if you really like Minn Kotas instead... Of course having a different trolling motor isn't as big a deal as having Honda or Bombardier steering controls put on your new Brunswick boat.... |
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Location: Minneapolis, MN | Bundling trolling motors, main motor and boat is not a new concept. Do you recall when OMC owned Stratos and Javelin? You couldn't get a Stratos without a OMC trolling motor and OMC main motor. |
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Posts: 169
Location: Elgin ,IL | Steve,Just ordered a new 2025 LUND Pro-V magnum from my dealer here in Antioch, IL equipped with a Honda 225 4-stroke. I'm curious to see what if any impact this will have on production dates, quality, hull warranties, etc... Any idea? Should I be contacting my dealer for the inside scoop? Any direction you could provide would certainly ease a worried mind at this point.Thanks,:) |
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Posts: 32886
Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | Shouldn't be any effect at all on production or delivery. The sale actually won't happen until May, I think, anyway. |
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Its Official - Lund Crestliner, Lowe Sold to Brunswick