Re: Why do outboards cost so much?$$$$$
I have mulled this over...and here is my 2 cents worth.<br /><br />Lets talk hypothetical for a sec...<br /><br />How many outboard brands are there? Now how many are owned and manufactured by the same company? What I am driving at is that even if there are 10 brands manufactured by 6 companies...there is not a lot of competition. In that case there is no real reason to price that much lower than the competition. That seems to be similar to the current situation to me.<br /><br />I believe that the answer lies somewhere between production volume and lack of competition. If, next year you had a company that produced a 200HP outboard (perhaps not quite as durable as what we are using now), priced around 5k, and warrantied it for 4 years...Other manufacturers would have to adjust. Kind of like a Kia or Hyundai of outboards. Just an interesting thought.
I have mulled this over...and here is my 2 cents worth.<br /><br />Lets talk hypothetical for a sec...<br /><br />How many outboard brands are there? Now how many are owned and manufactured by the same company? What I am driving at is that even if there are 10 brands manufactured by 6 companies...there is not a lot of competition. In that case there is no real reason to price that much lower than the competition. That seems to be similar to the current situation to me.<br /><br />I believe that the answer lies somewhere between production volume and lack of competition. If, next year you had a company that produced a 200HP outboard (perhaps not quite as durable as what we are using now), priced around 5k, and warrantied it for 4 years...Other manufacturers would have to adjust. Kind of like a Kia or Hyundai of outboards. Just an interesting thought.