General Yamaha history question from 1985

[edwardh1]

does anyone have an idea of what has happened since say 1985 that allowed Yamaha to have increased their sales so much? I am boat looking and the choice is probably Yamaha or Merc but I wonder what happened, and was it salt water related?

- I think Johnson / evinrude sunk themselves with the oil injection issues of (I think) the 80s and then followed that up with Fitch complications and bankrupcy etc etc

- but how did yamaha get past Merc outboards ? someone said that all the engines had corrosion problems and that Yamaha fixed some of them more than their competitors, such that Yam then got a sales lead as others lagged behind, even tho today there may not be much difference in corrosion rates, the perception remains.

The boat I am looking at comes with a 90 Hp merc 4 stroke , but the market here (coastal salt water) is like 90% Yamaha, and if I go to the caribbean ISlands most small motors say under 60 HP are 100% merc. so I am worried about the Merc.
what accounts for the Yam success?

 

[rodbolt]

Re: General Yamaha history question from 1985

better overall quality, Hitachi and Mitsubishi electronics.
way better warrenty and customer support.
not much experience with the caribe but in Venezuela its almost 100% yamaha first choice but the suzuki and tohatsu in the 40 and under range is popular.
its almost impossible to give away a merc or a jonnyrude to to electrical failures and lack of parts in VE.
face it, Motorola and prestolite sucked in the outboard electronics dept.
its also why I dont stock any ign coils, stators or CDI assemblys for any yamaha.
failure is that rare.

 

[edwardh1]

Re: General Yamaha history question from 1985

rodbolt - thanks-

so has merc been asleep?
seems they would have made some changes.
here in coastal so carolina Yamaha seems to have the market, but my bro in law says lots of mercs on inland lakes.
Has yamaha not made inroads on inland areas that are not salt?

 

[rodbolt]

Re: General Yamaha history question from 1985

its all about econonics and dealers.
if you look most the inland stuff is antique and most the coastal stuff is relativly new.
have him look on the lake for 33 grady whites with tin F350 or 300 engines.
the marina I work at has abot 5.
plus many regulators,contendors and gradys in the 25 to 33 range with twin V6 motors less than 5 years old.
here in he offshore salt pond motors last 6 to 8 years on average and the salt gets them.
couple that with most coastal areas have more retired money floating around than most inland areas.
when looking at the postings on the merc and jonnyrude as well as the mercruiser/omc sites be aware that 90% of that stuff is long gone from this area.
most died a horrible salt death coupled with neglect.