BRP buys Alumacraft

https://globenewswire.com/news-release/2018/06/28/1530817/0/en/BRP-Acquires-Alumacraft-and-Creates-a-New-Marine-Group.html

Maybe Alumacraft will come back to where they were in the early 2000’s…Hopefully we see more and more G2 motors out there with this move.

404 ERROR wrote:

Maybe Alumacraft will come back to where they were in the early 2000’s

We can only hope.

I had heard last winter this might be in the works.
Don’t jump up and down yet. If they go like Lund / Mercury & Skeeter / Yamaha there will be some unhappy campers around.

I would agree, as I don’t think this is a good thing for most customers.

Brunswick- Mercury, Motorguide, Lund, Crestliner, Lowe, Prince Craft, Bayliner, Searay and more I can’t think of…

Yamaha- Skeeter, G3 and Sun Catcher

Tracker Marine Group (Only main one without a motor company)- Ranger, Tracker, Triton, Nitro, Tahoe and many more

BRP (Now)- Alumacraft, Evinrude and Sea-doo

Just to put everything in perspective.

Anybody care to speculate what motor company if any takes a swing at Warrior? Since Warrior has their own steering system i think that almost would eliminate Merc.

NOT saying Warrior is for sale.

Tracker is almost 100% Mercury, from my limited knowledge, if you go to a BPS, Cabelas, or Tracker Boat Center. It will be interesting to see what happens to Ranger.

Sad in my mind. It was a boat you could buy with whatever motor. No that will more than likely be gone.

My guess is Suzuki will be the 4-stroke offering for future Alumacraft boats.

The motor of choice thing should only affect guys ordering new from the factory (maybe). I’m guessing the dealers like LaCannes will still hang anything you want on the boat.

Like Bass Pro buying Cabela’s there is no sense worrying just yet, time will tell what happens.

My gut tells me this is not a real positive move for the general customer, but I don’t think the sky is falling. Although the older early 00’s Alumacrafts didn’t have the gadgets and look of today’s boats…they seemed to hold up really well. Today’s just seem more fragile. Perhaps a change of ownership will have people reevaluating production to create an even higher quality product.

With 275 Alumacraft dealers they are buying hulls for their motors. Any incentives and extended warranties will be tied to a Alumacraft / Evinrude combination I’m sure. Why else bother to buy Alumacraft? What remains to be seen is if they will factory rig anything except Evinrudes. My guess is they won’t.

Not sure why everybody is knocking new Alumacrafts. IMO the best aluminum boat on the market right now.

I think this is a terrible decision and is going to have a huge negative effect on the brand. I say that as somebody who would put an evinrude on whatever new boat I bought.

People still (wrongly IMO) believe the Lund is superior line. The thing Alumacraft had going for them was you could mount any motor on them, such as Yamaha and Suzuki. If that goes away or becomes more difficult to do so I just don’t see this being a positive at all.

This is awful news. I just got done praising Alumacraft for having the ability to have a choice in outboard (compared to Lund/Mercury) and now this!?
IF Alumacraft must come with an ETec, I am owning my last Alumacraft. PERIOD.
The day I have to buy a factory rigged boat the way the factory wants to rig it is never coming for me. I guess I could buy a new boat and then rig up my trusty 2008 Suzuki on it. The motor will outlast most boats these days anyways.
I always told myself when I bought my boat in 2010 that I was buying “my last boat”. It could certainly be true.

Well, that kinda screws the Competitor 205 Tiller I was considering since Evinrude doesn’t have power steering for big tillers like Merc. I was leaning more toward Warrior anyway, but that Competitor 205 is quite a boat in my opinion.

fishinguns wrote:

Well, that kinda screws the Competitor 205 Tiller I was considering since Evinrude doesn’t have power steering for big tillers like Merc. I was leaning more toward Warrior anyway, but that Competitor 205 is quite a boat in my opinion.

Buddy of mine bought that boat last year with the 150 Merc.

LOVES that boat.

Just buy the boat with no motor. Go find your favorite Merc. dealer (lybecks) and have them hang the motor.

fishinguns wrote:

Well, that kinda screws the Competitor 205 Tiller I was considering since Evinrude doesn’t have power steering for big tillers like Merc. I was leaning more toward Warrior anyway, but that Competitor 205 is quite a boat in my opinion.

All G2’s 150HO and up have built in DPS…The standard 150 makes it an option you can add…

404 ERROR wrote:

All G2’s 150HO and up have built in DPS…The standard 150 makes it an option you can add…

In a tiller? Is that new for 2018?

Integrated into the trim bracket on the G2. Someone correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe it does not matter if it has a tiller handle or wheel. If finding a handle is the issue, If Warrior can put a handle on them, I believe Evinrude also can. I believe Warrior used their own steering system on them, however,

Dutchboy wrote:

Anybody care to speculate what motor company if any takes a swing at Warrior? Since Warrior has their own steering system i think that almost would eliminate Merc.

NOT saying Warrior is for sale.

I suppose a motor company could, but Warrior is such a small niche brand that I doubt that it would matter. Unless they start branching out into multi-species and bass boats, I don’t see them being a target for any boat brand.

I think all of this benefits Suzuki somewhat. They are already slightly less expensive and have quickly grown into a very close second to Yamaha. With Yamaha having so many supply issues, Suzuki has already been helped. They can brand themselves as being an independent brand at a slight price savings.

Dutchboy wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>fishinguns wrote:</div>
Well, that kinda screws the Competitor 205 Tiller I was considering since Evinrude doesn’t have power steering for big tillers like Merc. I was leaning more toward Warrior anyway, but that Competitor 205 is quite a boat in my opinion.

Buddy of mine bought that boat last year with the 150 Merc.

LOVES that boat.

Just buy the boat with no motor. Go find your favorite Merc. dealer (lybecks) and have them hang the motor.

Good point. Thanks!

I’m a couple years out right now, anyway. Putting up the pole barn to house the rigs at the end of July.

BRP announced they still intend to offer a variety of outboard options on Alumacraft

This is terrible news. Triton is going Mercury only for 2019. Ranger will soon follow suit I bet.