Johnson out of the market

[bogib]

IBI released news from BRP that Johnson outboards will not be produced in 2008 and will be taken out of the market, so end of story for Johnson and BRP will concentrate on Evinrude´s E-Tec.

IBI reporters where not able to get hold of any spokesman from BRP in Europe whether this will effect the European market.

Bogi

[Locozodiac]

Originally Posted by bogib

IBI released news from BRP that Johnson outboards will not be produced in 2008 and will be taken out of the market, so end of story for Johnson and BRP will concentrate on Evinrude´s E-Tec.

IBI reporters where not able to get hold of any spokesman from BRP in Europe whether this will effect the European market.

Bogi

Will be the end of Jonhson as a trade brand, but still will have lots of spare parts from his brother Evinrude as being the same engine with diffrenet trade name.

Also heard that will concentrate in developing all their portable and mediun engines updates to be EFI engines as their bigger brothers. Seem not much interested in four strokes because of low sales.

So bye, bye two stroke simple technology, have lasted a hell of a time, but everything has an end to it. Will see...

Happy Boating

[Tim M]

Originally Posted by Locozodiac

Will be the end of Jonhson as a trade brand, but still will have lots of spare parts from his brother Evinrude as being the same engine with diffrenet trade name.

Not quite; all Johnsons for the last few years have been built by Suzuki. No problems with parts as you say as you can get them from them.

[Locozodiac]

Originally Posted by Tim M

Not quite; all Johnsons for the last few years have been built by Suzuki. No problems with parts as you say as you can get them from them.

You say that are different manufacturers for the same model, anyway will a Evinrude 25HP match equally a Disguissed Johnson 25 HP Suzuki made, including parts and everything else. Or each of them has it's own not compatible parts between them ? Some years ago used to be the same engine manufacturer selling with two brands as other manufacturers do like Mercury/Mariner, Tohatsu/Nissan, etc All in benefit of globalization..

[Tim M]

It differs from brand to brand. All Johnson 4-strokes are Suzuki's - they are exactly the same engines just painted differently. I think some older OMC Johnson's were the same as Evinrude but not totally sure. Mercury and Mariner are at present the same engines, Mariner used to be made by Yamaha - again some engines (certainly the 15hp) are the same between the two brands. Nissan and Tohatsu are the same, and indeed Tohatsu made a lot of small 2-strokes that other companies sold eg Mercury.

[Nos4r2]

Are the Johnson 4/ and Suzuki part numbers the same? If not this could cause problems unless Johnson spares are continued.

[9D280]

Originally Posted by Tim M

I think some older OMC Johnson's were the same as Evinrude but not totally sure.

You are right there. I think i'm safe in saying all through the good old premix 1970's. OMC were Johnson & Evvenrude. I have a (nominally) '72 vintage Johnson that changes colour halfway down the leg to the mid 60's Evenrude colours! No idea about the part numbers - I only recently found a 'fiche on the web - I just used to go into my usual sources with the broken old bit and a HP / approx year!

http://www.old-omc.de/index2.html gives some history and brochure scans.

[Chris]

Right into the nineties Johnson and Evinrude engines were in a lot of cases the same just with a different sticker set.

My old Johnson 90 V4 Ocean Runner is exactly the same engine as the Evinrude 90 V4 Oean Pro for example.

Chris

[Nos4r2]

Sorry, should have said BRP/Suzuki 4 strokes rather than 4/.

OMC motors are known as JohnRudes for obvious reasons.

[seahorse]

Originally Posted by bogib

IBI released news from BRP that Johnson outboards will not be produced in 2008 and will be taken out of the market, so end of story for Johnson and BRP will concentrate on Evinrude´s E-Tec.

Clarification on Johnson outboard story yesterday

By IBI Magazine

IBI reported yesterday that Johnson outboards had ceased production. While that is true, a BRP representative pointed out that the company had already released that information last year. It also said in a statement that it would continue to support the brand.

"BRP stopped manufacturing Johnson two-stroke engines in May of 2006," said Christine Schultz, senior public relations coordinator, in an email. "That same year BRP offered the last model year for Johnson four-stroke engines (model year 2007)." Schultz said that no Johnson outboards have been manufactured since July 1, 2006.

"However, we will continue to own and maintain the Johnson brand," Schultz added. "The Johnson brand is a very valuable asset and we are evaluating many opportunities to continue to use it in the future, beyond what the current application is."

Schultz said that BRP is "committed" to servicing existing Johnson engines. "BRP distributors and dealers in all markets will continue to have access to spare parts to support continued enjoyment of existing Johnson engines," she said.

(15 January 2008)