BRP floats big plans for newly bought Australian boat brands
Evinrude outboard engines to become a more closely aligned part of Quintrex, Stacer, Savage and Yellowfin Plate boatsGlobal powersports group BRP plans to grab a bigger slice of the world’s – and Australia’s – marine dollar by better integrating its Evinrude outboard engines with aluminium plate boats.
Speaking at the company’s 2020 product launch – which included power upgrades and a new model for the Sea-Doo line of jet skis – BRP chief executive José Boisjoli said its takeover of Telwater was part of its strategy to help it bump up its marine products earnings.
Boisjoli said the marine market globally had “changed drastically” since its 2001 takeover of two-stroke outboard engine brand Evenrude in 2001, shrinking in half.
“The dynamics of the industry have changed, too,” he said. “Now most engines are sold as part of a new boat package.
“We needed our own boat line to grow. We’ve looked for boat companies that were the right fit for us, that had talented teams producing quality products with great potential.
That has resulted in BRP buying US fishing boat brand Alumacraft, and pontoon boat maker manitu to expand its portfolio of boats it could package with Evinrude outboard engines – and more recently, Queensland-based alloy boat maker Telwater.
Growing the boat lines
“We needed our own boat line to grow,” Boisjoli said. “We’ve looked for boat companies that were the right fit for us, that had talented teams producing quality products with great potential.
“I’m very happy with the integration of Alumacraft fishing boats and Manitau Pontoon, two leading US boat brands that we acquired last year.
“And we’ve just added Telwater, the No.1 brand in Australia, to the portfolio in August.”
Boisjoli hinted that Australia could soon become an important part in BRP’s global push.
“The 15-25 foot aluminium boat industry is a $US20-billion-plus market globally,” he said.
“Today, we are a small player in this industry, but like all our product lines, we plan to redefine the market to provide the best experience for the consumer by better integrating the engine into the boat platform, like we do on all our product lines.
“Our marine strategy is not a short-term play; it’s a mid- to long-term play. But I’m convinced that in 10 years our marine business could reach $US2-3 billion.”
BRP’s global boat and outboard engine sales grew 14.8 per cent last financial year to $CA492.2 million ($A544 million) last financial year before the buy-out of the Australian alloy boat brands.
Tripling the product line
In one of its most recent updates, Telwater has more than tripled the number of its premium Yellowfin Plate fishing boats on offer, including adding new models such as a rear console for the first time.
Telwater currently builds about 8000 boats and 5500 trailers a year. The Coomera factory employs more than 270 workers, and more than 180 dealers spread throughout Australia and the Asia Pacific.
BRP and Telwater have been in partnership since 2011 when the two companies inked a deal to fit BRP's Evinrude outboard engines on Telwater products. In 2016, Telwater was appointed as Evinrude's exclusive Australian dealer.
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