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STURTEVANT, Wis. - Bombardier Recreational Products will no longer supply engines to the Sea Pro, Sea Boss and Palmetto brands following Brunswick Corp's acquisition of those boat manufacturing companies two days ago, BRP's executive vice president, Roch Lambert, told his company's dealers in a special edition of BRP's Real Deal newsletter today.
Lambert said the decision was effective immediately, but also said BRP would make every attempt to fulfill orders received by close of business, Feb. 6.
“This decision reflects our long-term strategy to support the independent boat builders and build our common success with dealers that are committing to our brands,” Lambert wrote. “As we are now in boat show season, we understand the challenge this decision may pose and we will work hard to help support you in whatever transition strategy you may choose to implement.”
BRP also included an internal memo in the release today, listing 24 fiberglass OEM boat builders its dealers could consider as alternatives to Sea Pro, Sea Boss and Palmetto, in light of today's decision.
“As Brunswick and Mercury continue to implement their strategy and force dealers to exclusively do business with their brands, we still strongly believe in our plan to support and commonly grow sales with the high quality independent boat builders we do business with,” Lambert wrote.
Brunswick responds
Brunswick spokesperson Dan Kubera said his company was disappointed by BRP's decision, in a telephone interview this afternoon.
“It's always been our stated goal to provide continued engine choices on these brands as long as we could obtain supply from manufacturers other than Mercury,” Kubera said. “But [BRP] has announced that they don't intend to [supply Brunswick's new brands]. We're disappointed, but the decision has been taken out of our hands. You would have to talk to Bombardier about its reasoning.”
Officials at Mercury deferred comment on the BRP announcement to Brunswick's Boat Group.
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