On Wed, 6 Jun 2007 08:48:35 -0400, "Eisboch"
wrote:

Some engine manufacturers ... I think it was Yamaha if I am not
mistaken ... will even buy the rights to a boat name and setup
a boat manufacturing facility ... in this case Century .... just as
a platform for the sale of their engines.

Yamaha also owns GIII boats - aluminum bass/fishing boats - same deal.
Entry level boats.

Bombardier tried it with their Fish Hawk line which was basically a
platform for the redesigned FICHT. They were built by Hydra-Sports
and side-by-side, you couldn't tell a Fish Hawk from the same model
Hydra-Sports except for the paint/logos - they were identical.

For some reason when they introduced the ETEC line, they abandoned
Fish Hawk (after two model years) which left them as a OEM engine
provider only - no platform for the ETECS.

Yamaha has exclusive deals with a bunch of manufacturers - it gets a
little weird when you try and price a boat/trailer only and get a rash
of nonsense about all the reasons why they can't sell you a boat. It's
really odd.

I've spent some time on the phone with some manufacturers just trying
to get my point across - I'd like to price out one of your boats
without an engine/controls/gauges - cash. Your dealers won't work
with me, can I work with you and they don't want anything to do with
it.

The interesting thing is that I've gotten better results from those
dealers aligned with Mercury engine/boat combinations than those with
Yamaha. However, the prices they quote don't discount for the lack of
an engine, so that isn't any advantage.

I'm seriously thinking of getting into the used market.