Outboard Marine Corporation (
OMC) was a maker of
Evinrude and Johnson boat motors and many different brands
of boats. Evinrude initially began in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1907. OMC was based
in Waukegan, Illinois.
They also owned several lines of boats such as Chris Craft, Lowe Boats,
Princecraft, Four Winns,
SeaSwirl, Stratos, and Javelin. OMC was also a parent company to Ryan, which
made lawn mowers. OMC sold 100,000 motors in 2000 and had one third of the
outboard market. OMC filed for bankruptcy 22 December 2000 and laid off 7,000
employees. They announced they would no longer warranty their product. This left
many owners in limbo wondering if the future owner would warranty their products
as the future owner is not legally liable but could as a sign of goodwill. The
names Johnson and Evinrude were won by bid in February 2001 by
Bombardier Recreational Products
and the boat division by Genmar Corporation of Minnesota. At the 2001 Miami Boat
Show they both said they would do their best to support dealers and warranties.
Read the full history of OMC at Wikipedia
by clicking here.