I read today that Genmar sold it's aluminum boat lines to Brunswick. That includes Lund, Crestliner and lowe (not sure on lowe) Also I heard Brunswick is the parent company of Mercury. That's interesting. Thoughts, opinions let's hear it.
KM2,<br /><br />I think Lund may get hurt a bit on this one. Only for the reason that only Merc's. will be available on them. Nothing against Mercs. Just that many people like a choice in high end boats.<br /><br />Not sure about Crestliner and Lowe.<br /><br />Mercury Marine has been owned by Brunswick for many years.
For Crestliner It has got to be good news. Under Genmar I figured Crestliner would go out of business. They had went from having good offshore boats down to nothing but pontoons and Open bow runabouts 20 feet and under. I had been in the market for a 24 foot offshore boat for over 4 years. The first year they had a great hull but the inside had 3 live wells no fishing seats and no place for any gear unless you put it in one of the live wells.<br /><br />Anyway can't be any worse than under genmar. Love see then go back to AMF.
Genmar, Brunswick, and Tracker Marine have been buying up manufacturers and then swapping them back and forth for almost 20 years. Some names are relabeled, some disappear, some stay the same.
DJ, Are you sure about the boats only coming with merc's? The boats are delivered without motors. Will the Lund Crestliner and Lowe dealers be required to put Merc's on? The majority of the Lund, Crestliner dealers here have been putting on Yamahas the last few years. <br /><br />Kevin
KM2,<br /><br />It has been Brunswicks history to require its corporate owned boat companies to install exclusively Mercs. and MerCruiser. <br /><br />Boston Whaler, Sea Ray and Starcraft are a good example of this-to mention a few.<br /><br />One may find some renegade dealers that will still bolt on anything, yet at great expense. The boats are at least pre-rigged and sometimes shipped with an engine.
My take on the boat motor combo packages with "exclusive" engines is, if they don't sell, the manufacturers will either wake up, or go out of business.<br /><br />But with today's market, who knows what "real" motor brand you have on a boat anyway, since the motor guys swap and cross-trade with so many motors now.
I have nothing against Merc but you should get the choice of the motor you want on the boat you want. I'm not in the market for a new boat so I'm not going to lose any sleep over this, but I don't like it!<br /> <br />What happens to the Crestliner, Lund dealers that don't sell merc currently? Become a merc dealer or no boats?
KM2,<br /><br />I'm in complete agreement with you, nothing against Mercs either. <br /><br />However, this "packaging" is nothing new. It really took off in the '80's with Bayliner/Chrysler/US Marine/Force. They, Bayliner, were extremely succesful with the idea, so others followed suit.<br /><br />To boating "purists" like myself and many others, we like the choices. Most do not, or do not care.
I also completly agree!<br /><br />When looking to buy our fishing boat we narrowed down our choices to Princecraft, Lund and Crestliner. We eliminated Princecraft because the boat we wanted did not come in vinyl and it could only be factory rigged with Mercs.<br /><br />Nothing against Merc. Just not the motor I want.<br /><br />Ended up choosing a Crestliner with E-TEC motor. Have put the whole deal on hold for a while to see if The Bomb Boys design new (YAMI-LIKE) tiller handle.<br /><br />If that time comes and I can only get a Crestliner Merc rigged - I'LL BE PISSED!!
I have somthing against Mercs and would certainly never consider one for a 30 horse. I ended up buying a Princecraft 162bt boat (no motor) for a good price. Found a good price on a Honda 30 and the rest is history. Had Princecraft dealer bolt on the Honda - also had him throw in extra seat, air-ride seats and galvanized trailer.
Isnt Brunswick the same company that makes bowling pins?<br /><br />EDIT: Btw, Kongsberg recently bought B&G. They now dominate the high-end of both sailing and power boating marine electronics with B&G and Simrad, respectfully. They also own Robertson auto pilots, Seatek transponders I forget the name on their directional VHF.
