Outboard market share

[Masbama]

I recently spent 5 days down on Dauphin Island, Al. I always like to observe the types of boats and outboard motors while down there. I made a non scientific survey of outboard motors. I would say that 90% of the boats had Yamaha outboards. Mercury came in second at about 4% and another 3% was divided between Suzuki and Honda; 2% OMC/BRP. I saw one Force and one Tohastsu. About 20 years ago it was about 90% OMC.

[Jefecinco]

Interesting numbers. In the Gulf Shores/Orange Beach area I believe there are almost as many Mercurys as Yamahas. A lot of the guides are moving from Yamaha to Suzuki because they get much better prices from Suzuki and I'm told reliability is about equal. There are a fair number of BRPs but I've yet to see a G2. Hondas are seen but most are older engines on older boats. My feeling is that Honda has lost a lot of market share.

[Qtrmeg]

Obviously a local phenomenon. I look at my 5 boats with 6 engines. Five engines are Mercury and one OMC.

Yamaha got traction when US quality was suspect but I wouldn't invest in their stock. Suzuki is underbidding them and Evinrude & Mercury are putting out some seriously nice new product.

For example, I'd love to buy a Yamaha F70 for a Montauk but I can buy a Mercury 90 for the same price, and an eTec 90 for a few dollars more. I live in the northeast and all outboard venders are well represented.

[jimh]

In northern Lake Michigan I see outboard engines as having only a small fraction of the market in boats under 25-feet. If I look up and down the shoreline at boats on hoists in front of lakefront homes, they are almost all sterndrive boats. The boats going into the water at the local ramp are, again, almost all sterndrive powered. The boats with outboards tend to be smaller trailered fishing boats, or-- something of a new genre-- big and fancy tri-hull pontoon boats. Among those outboard boats I don't see any brand predominating. And I have seen more E-TEC G2 engine than I expected on those new pontoon boats. And plenty of old OMC-era small engines. But, really, the sterndrive is the dominant propulsion on the northern lakes.

[Jefecinco]

I was surprised to learn that stern drive boats dominate in any area. However, it does make sense that stern drives are popular in fresh water lakes. We see stern drive boats on the Gulf Coast but they are mostly used to power small to large cruisers and even some smaller yachts. I believe the lack of popularity for stern drives is mostly because of the poor reliability of the early versions when exposed to lengthy immersion in salt water. The older stern drive gimble housings and lower units simply eroded away when the boats were kept in slips or on moorings.

Around Orange Beach, in particular, we see a lot of boats in lifts. I don't recall seeing a stern drive boat on a lift. The only departure from outboard powered boats is the few that have inboard power.

Another factor in the dominance of outboard power is that so many of our Gulf Coast boats are fishing boats. Owners don't want the cockpit space taken up by engines nor do they want the raised cockpit decks required when engines are located below decks. To us, cockpits are for fighting fish.

[jimh]

I think use in cold freshwater is a factor in the popularity of stern drives. To demonstrate their durability in cold freshwater. I retell this story:

When boating in Lake Linden in far northern Michigan's Keewenaw peninsula, we encountered a fellow with a c.1960 17-footer with a small four-cylinder stern drive. I remarked to the owner that he had done a nice job of restoration. The owner then gave me a bit of history of the boat--which he bought for only a few hundred dollars because at the time of sale it was sunk and on the bottom of the lake. He got the boat refloated, and drained the engine of oil and water. He put in new spark plugs and fresh oil. The engine started and he ran it at idle briefly. Then he changed the oil again, and off he went boating. I think that would be an unlikely outcome for a boat submerged in warm saltwater for any length of time. Also, in the upper Midwest the mechanics are very adept at working on the usually simple marinized auto engines used in sterndives, and those engines tend to quite durable. In saltwater I think the submerged drive parts are not long lasting, and the raw water cooled exhaust systems subject to constant repairs.

In warm saltwater an outboard engine is probably more practical: you tilt them out of the water when not in use, and they can be flushed with freshwater more easily.

I do think fishing in the southern saltwater is another influence. Up north many boater just use their boats for taking a boatride in fair summer weather-- all ten weeks of it.

[Masbama]

Local availability is a big factor. There is only one Evinrude dealer in Mobile County and it is not his focus brand (that would be Yamaha). I buy my oil there and all showroom boats have a Yamaha on the back.