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I’m not surprised, I think they spend a large amount of money on research and development and they have less than 4% market share, that’s not sustainable.

People with etecs on their boats now just got wrecked.

Well I was late on this one.... just crazy to me. Lots of folks love those etechs

My favorite all time outboard was an 80s 25hp Evinrude on my dads old Fiberglas 15foot John. It would fly. We made some awesome memories in that boat

I think BRP is much stronger in the ATV/SXS world.

Not so strange. You can only make an inferior product for so long.

My first outboard was a 5.5 Johnson Seahorse. It had a metal 6 gallon tank with a button on top that pressurized the tank to get fuel to the engine. It ran great as long as it was pointed away from the boat ramp. Turn around to go home and you may as well pick up your paddle. At the time, I was about 12 and was mowing yards in Tampa for $5 / yard, so I had a lot of sweat in the purchase of that motor. I sold it and went back to mowing until I could pay $400.00 for a used 9.8 hp 1976 Mercury that started life on a rental boat at Walt Disney World. Despite having lots of hours on it from Disney World use and the fact that I sunk that motor twice it restarted and ran until I was in my 20's.

Later in life I purchased an almost new 1978 Skeeter bassboat with a Johnson on it. Within the first two months, the flywheel cracked off the top of the motor and spun around loose under the cowling chewing up a lot of expensive parts inside. Back to mowing and saving $$$ for a year or two. I purchased a 115 Mercury rebuilt by a mechanic named Ed Frans at Seals Marine in Tampa. Ed helped me swap the motors and the Mercury ran both in Tampa Bay and in freshwater for the next 10 years.

I had hoped that Evinrude improved recently, but watching Yale Ford on this forum and another friend in Panama City repower with Evinrude products revealed the same train-wreck type issues I experienced in my early life.

To this day I will only own Mercury or Yamaha products. Sorry for the folks that are now unemployed, but their company let them down over a long period of years.

- Steve Stinson

I have owned four Evinrudes, the last two being E-TECs.

Thought they had turned the corner with quality control, but apparently not. They definitely did not get it with marketing in the marine industry. On top of that, the Transformer look of the new G2s have to be the ugliest outboards on the water.

I'm happy with my Mercury EFI 60 four-stroke overall. If I have to replace, I'll probably go with the new R60.

"Thought they had turned the corner with quality control, but apparently not. ..."

So did you have good luck with your Evinrudes?

- Steve Stinson

Had injectors fail on both big engines and also had a lower cowl crack. All replaced under warranty, but it was while I was guiding so those issues proved to be a major disruption. My dealer did all they could for a quick turnaround, however.

Wasn't overly impressed with the performance of the 30-hp E-TEC on the Micro. Went with Mercury on the new skiff.

I guess I'll have to buy soon if I want a new etec, brp is betting their package units will be the future I guess. But who wants a hybrid outboard? I guess I'll have to look harder at Suzuki, after my the Merc s I've owned I won't own another.

So if you buy a new Etec - what do you do about warranty or parts? Heck, if you own a year old Etec is the remaining warranty still good?

I think Shield's Marina sells Suzuki's. I have only had one small one on the back of a work boat. It ran okay, but the carb would mess up if you left it unused for too long.

Evinrude will warranty the etec for up 10 years still and will still have parts for the foreseeable future, I don't know if Mercury is doing the service or if it's still their own dealer network. They would have to keep a dealer network anyway since they own the boat brands now and they would need dealers anyway to service their package units if they ever come out with them. I guess they got in a bind and it was more economical to let Mercury buy the transoms than keep production of etecs running.

Q&A from Fishing Tackle Retailer:

FTR reached out to BRP regarding the future of Evinrude and received the following replies regarding the iconic brand’s future.
Q: Will you keep the doors open to produce Evinrude engines again someday?

BRP: We are re-orienting our marine strategy and concentrating our efforts on next generation engine technology, publicly known as Project Ghost, our boat business and other marine projects where we see a lot of potential to transform the on-water experience for consumers. We have no plan to bring back the production of outboard engines E-TEC and E-TEC G2.

Q: Will you sell the brand or the technology of your Evinrude engines?

BRP: Evinrude has a long history and we will maintain the trademark. At this point, we have no intention of selling the brand or the technology of Evinrude.

Q: Evinrude is obviously an iconic American outboard brand, one of the true giants in that world. Does BRP plan to completely eliminate the brand from the industry?

BRP: Evinrude has a long history and we will maintain the trademark. At this point, we have no intention of selling the brand or the technology of Evinrude. The Evinrude name will remain as we have outboard engines in the market, and we will continue to supply customers and dealer network service parts as needed and honor our manufacturer limited warranties and extended service contracts. For the moment, we retain the trademark and the patents and have no intention of selling these.

Q: What should existing Evinrude owners know about ongoing maintenance for their outboards?

BRP: We will continue to supply customers and the dealer network service parts as needed and honor our manufacturer limited warranties and extended service contracts.

Q: How long will Evinrude maintain technician training and support for replacement parts?

BRP: Over 1,000 dealers and distributors, globally, will be impacted. We will honor our commitments and work with them to ensure a smooth transition.

Q: Will Evinrude continue to fulfill existing engine orders for 2020?

BRP: Along with the dealer inventory, we have enough inventory to ensure a smooth transition. Most customers who have ordered an engine will receive their units in a timely manner.

Interesting. Thanks Dave.

And right before Evinrude pulled the plug, Cox Marine, a British company, announced it was going into production on a 300-hp diesel outboard. It has been in development for awhile.