Stupid question...

[Hoyt79]

boy this should get a lot of looks....I just don't know the answer and it is bugging me. What does OMC stand for, mean, history, etc? Johnson Evinrude I know and understand the relationship but what is OMC.

 

[mark1961]

Re: Stupid question...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outboard_Marine_Corporation

 

[wifisher]

Re: Stupid question...

Outboard Marine Corporation

 

[5150abf]

Re: Stupid question...

What was OMC is the question, they went bankrupot in 2001ish.

Theywent on a company buying spree thinking that if the owned alot of boat companies they would sell alot of engines, throw in a down turn it the economy and spending way too much on the FICHT concept and it killed them, in the end they were all about cost cutting and share holders, they had buisness guys running everything rather than boat guys like it was in the beggining adn it didin't work.

I was at one of the comapies they boaught, Suncruiser< for 9 years until they shut it down, really too bad.

 

[F_R]

Re: Stupid question...

The above, plus a lot of other factors. Some giants you can kill with a slingshot, others are hard to kill, but fall it did. The oil embargo, the Luxury Tax, some recessions, some products put on the market without getting the bugs out, motors designed to run on premium leaded gas just about the time it was outlawed, Japanese clones that actually were better, come to mind. Nobody mentions the environmental disaster to Lake Michigan, a Superfund Cleanup.

 

[Hoyt79]

Re: Stupid question...

So...OMC doesn't exist anymore? but johnson and evinrude are completely different and not connected in anyway? It just always throws me for a loop when johnson evinrude and OMC are mentioned all in the same sentance. Kinda seems like a GM Chevy and Saturn type deal.

 

[Tim Frank]

Re: Stupid question...

So...OMC doesn't exist anymore? but johnson and evinrude are completely different and not connected in anyway? It just always throws me for a loop when johnson evinrude and OMC are mentioned all in the same sentance. Kinda seems like a GM Chevy and Saturn type deal.

No...bad analogy....it's way different.
I think it would be more like if GM had had some car brands that included really similar models that used most, if not all, of the same parts, with just some cosmetic differences.
Then, lets say GM were to run into financial problems it would....oh...wait...never mind....:facepalm:

 

[DJ]

Re: Stupid question...

Johnson/Evinrude nameplates were under the OMC umbrella until 2000.

The same names still exist but are now under the BRP (Bombardier Recreational Products) umbrella after 2001.

 

[5150abf]

Re: Stupid question...

Didn't BRP drop Johnson and just make Evinrude now?

I was talking to a rep shortly after they were bought out and he said they went through the parts at Waukegan and ended up throwing most of them away because they were so far out of spec, they really let thigs go towards the end.

they had a meeting one day and gave everyone a book on the history of OMC and it was really interesting, to bad, they made some really good engines.