Volvo Penta to Mercruiser - Sales Ratio

deafwish · **Posted:** Wed Sep 25, 2013 6:02 pm

Hi All,

Might anyone know the approximate percentage of Volvo Penta sales compared to Mercruiser, in new boats?
Has this trend changed in the past 15 years?

Cheers.

deafwish · **Posted:** Thu Sep 26, 2013 4:38 pm

Anyone?

Would I be on the right track if I assumed that Mercruiser hold about 70% of I/O sales compared to Volvo Penta (30%)?

ric · **Posted:** Thu Sep 26, 2013 7:49 pm

25ft and under? 90% Mercruiser. 25-35? Maybe 50/50. 35+? Mostly VP. The IPS system is second to none.

230 Mike · **Posted:** Thu Sep 26, 2013 11:27 pm

And those numbers are based on... ?

ric · **Posted:** Fri Sep 27, 2013 6:04 am

my eyes living in a state where everyone basically owns a boat. Volvo Penta is very very rare. Living in Orlando which is nothing but boating lakes and boat dealers every few miles I can tell you one thing: When I owned a VP powered boat it was like owning a rare collectable car made in some obscure country by a guy in a garage. Couldn't get parts anywhere. Nothing in stock at any VP dealer. Not even impellers. With a mercruiser you can get generally anything you need at any West Marine (3 within 10 miles of me). Parts dealers that have MC parts? There's at least 10 within bicycle riding distance. I will never own a VP powered boat again, there's no benefit only headache.

230 Mike · **Posted:** Fri Sep 27, 2013 7:42 am

There is boating outside of Florida. And your numbers aren't close in other places.

RotaryRacer · **Posted:** Fri Sep 27, 2013 8:00 am

230 Mike wrote:

There is boating outside of Florida. And your numbers aren't close in other places.

You forgot that the universe revolves around ric and he knows all.

That being said, I think the Merc/VP ratio is very regional. Based primarily on what dealers are in the area and what type/brand of boats they sell. If there are a lot of dealers selling Brunswick boats, you will see mostly Mercruiser. If there are dealers selling any boats other than Brunswick, you will see more of a mix.

I do think that Mercruiser has a higher market share in all regions, it just how much higher in any given locale.

Also, since deafwish hails from down under, it is hard for any of us based in the US to say what it is where he lives.

rpengr · **Posted:** Fri Sep 27, 2013 8:51 am

RotaryRacer wrote:

230 Mike wrote:

There is boating outside of Florida. And your numbers aren't close in other places.

You forgot that the universe revolves around ric and he knows all.

That being said, I think the Merc/VP ratio is very regional. Based primarily on what dealers are in the area and what type/brand of boats they sell. If there are a lot of dealers selling Brunswick boats, you will see mostly Mercruiser. If there are dealers selling any boats other than Brunswick, you will see more of a mix.

I do think that Mercruiser has a higher market share in all regions, it just how much higher in any given locale.

Also, since deafwish hails from down under, it is hard for any of us based in the US to say what it is where he lives.

Yes, I would like to know the real answer to this question also. It is very regional. In my area of Florida, I think the 70/30 guess might be about right... based on nothing but my observation.

230 Mike · **Posted:** Fri Sep 27, 2013 10:11 am

There's no question that Merc has a higher share overall, and probably in any single region. If I had to guess, overall it would be in the 60-70:40-30 range. My take on the OP was that he was looking for some hard industry numbers, which may not exist.

I live in one of those areas where, in the past, if you walked in to the shop and said the word "Volvo" they'd all look at you like you had two heads. That's changing, at least here. I recently had my annual work done by a new shop in a new area (one of the most back woods, back-water, banjo-pickin', "you look purty good in them tight jeans boy" hillbilly hells you've ever seen BTW), and I had the audacity to specify "Volvo parts only." They didn't stock any of them, but had all of them on hand by lunchtime the same day.

deafwish · **Posted:** Fri Sep 27, 2013 5:43 pm

Thanks fellas.
I was indeed chasing some semi-accurate market research from y'all in the US of A, given most of your boats end up down here anyway!

I'll run with an approx 65% Mercruiser - 35% Volvo Penta.

Cheers. :wink:

Obie · **Posted:** Sun Sep 29, 2013 2:11 pm

Mercury certainly outsell Volvo. But that ratio is effected by some popular boat brands only available with a Mercury. I think waht you want to know is which engine and outdrive manufacturer is best.

Years ago the website Boatered.com ran a survey of boaters and asked what brand of engine they had in their current boat and the brand of engine they would want in their next boat. The ratio of Mercury owners wanting to switch to Volvo out numbered the Volvo owners wanting to switch to Mercury by 2:1. This nonscientific survey suggests that despite the lower sales numbers for Volvo, it is viewed as a higher quality product. The difference between brands is difficult to measure when so many of us do our own maintenance and boat in fresh water and salt water. Ideally someone would equip six boats with Mercury engines (three in fresh water and three in salt water) and six boats similarly situated with Volvo engines. The boats would be run just like we do; about 50 hours per year, perform recommended maintenance, and stored outside for the winter. All problems would be logged and the repair costs tracked. After five years we might be able to tell if there was a significant difference in quality. This would be a great long tern project for a major boating magazine; but it will never be conducted because of the potential loss of advertizing.

Other than conducting a scientific study we must be content with our own opinions and those of the mechanics that work on both Mercury and Volvo. I have a Volvo that has run perfectly for eight years and 170 hours. But there are likely many Mercury owners that can say the same thing.

Winter Sux · **Posted:** Sun Sep 29, 2013 2:29 pm

Obie, my wife is the editors assistant to a trawler magazine. I'll mention running this survey in their magazine when I winterize his boat in November.

I do seem to think that VP and Merc advertise with them so this idea may get shot down.

neutron · **Posted:** Sun Oct 06, 2013 1:40 pm

around here we have very large number of Searay boats because of there dealer network in the area is huge so it does tip the scales in the Mercruiser favor big time. very small amount of VP around here.

Paul I. · **Posted:** Sun Oct 06, 2013 4:01 pm

In Boston Merc has the lead. But I feel this is due the dealer trying to keep prices down. Not explaining that VP is better and more $$.

Case in point, them trying to tell me that I don't need a closed cooling system. Why, I would have to replaced the engine a lot sooner. Were a closed system would mean that the engine would last just as long as the same car engine in its class.

TX H210SS · **Joined:** Thu May 27, 2010 9:10 am **Posts:** 1488

Merc is more common here in the gulf and central area of texas, but VP is growing. Higher end boats seem to be trending toward VP based on my observations. I can get VP parts and service at just about any dealer that sells I/o

boats. Here many only carry OB fishing rigs though.

www.iFourWinns.com

Volvo Penta to Mercruiser - Sales Ratio

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