Truck Articles

OMC marine parts were originally produced by the Outboard Marine Company (OMC), a boating engine and sterndrive producer based in North America. During its life, the company built a large customer base. Unfortunately, the firm suffered a tough period after a major product recall in 1989. OMC ceased production of both engines and sterndrives in 1998.

OMC was established during 1929 and based just north of Chicago at Waukegan, Illinois on the shore of Lake Michigan. It was a leading boat, engine and sterndrive producer. Its boat motors included the well-known Johnson and Evinrude brands. In 2000, OMC made about 100,000 motors and had almost a third of outboard market in North American. Its boat brands included Stratos, Lowe Boats, SeaSwirl, Chris Craft, Four Winns, Javeli, and Princecraft.

Over the years, the company developed many customers. Unfortunately, the firm suffered tough times following a major recall of its Cobra sterndrive in 1989. OMC ceased production in 1998 and filed for bankruptcy on 22 December 2000. It had about 7,000 employees at that time.

The cause of it woes was the Cobra sterndrive engine, launched in 1985. This unit was combined with all its OMC motors. So the sale of those units represent a large legacy population that remains in operation today that needs to be maintained. Sterndrive motors are a substitute for outboard and inboard motors to provide water propulsion. Their design is a hybrid system drawing features from both inboard and outboard motor designs.

When the Cobra product was launched during the mid to late 1980s, MerCruiser was the industry leader with a market share of about 75 percent. The Cobra quickly chopped that share to below 50 percent. But things started to turn sour quite quickly.

The Cobra product began to form a bad name for malfunctions. Its shift cables damaged the gear sets. The problem caused OMC to announce in 1989 a recall of all Cobra units. The recall placed severe financial pressure on the company. Its fortune soon waned and never recovered. Production of its engines and sterndrives was discontinued during 1998. Associated production facilities, including a machining facility in North Carolina, were divested to Bombardier Recreational Products. It sold that facility to TEAM Industries in October 2004.

In summary, owners of OMC products owners have sourced OMC marine parts from Volvo Penta sinced OMC was dissolved. OMC had a commercial relationship with Volvo Penta from 1989 to 1997. Additionally, several distributors of related products have made concerted effort to gather and stock original OMC items as well as OMC-compatible items, including Cobra-compatible items. In this way, these distributors perform a valuable role for OMC product owners. Most of these distributors can be found online.

Looking to find the best deal on OMC Marine Parts, then visit www.boatmasters.com to find the best advice on Marine Parts for you.

Apr122011

Tags: Boat engine parts, engine, engine parts, Marine Parts, OMC, OMC Marine Parts, r Propeller, Trucks

Trackback URI | Comments RSS