Comment: Diesel do nicely!

IN terms of marine engines in this region, our trends tend to  somewhat mirror the US, with no doubt that we definitely love and feverishly salivate over big outboards. In fact, although our  large-outboard (151hp+) segment is tiny in relation to the overall  market, it leaves many European countries, particularly the UK (average  size 8-10hp), for dead. But if you think that everyone in Europe is  either a wind-guzzling blow-boater or the marine equivalent of an  85-year-old in a Holden Apollo causing an ire-filled F3 tailback from  Newcastle to Sydney, you couldn’t be further off the mark.

For from being sedentary, plodding putt-putters afloat, the Europeans – particularly the Scandinavians and the UK rigid-inflatable builders – are true masters of the light, nimble and rapid powerboat. Yes, they  use outboards, but many of their truly outstanding performers have  modern, lightweight, high-speed diesels. Whilst the excise-exempt status  of marine diesel has been controversially rescinded in the UK (where it  soared virtually overnight from about AU$0.60 per litre to a  petrol-like AU$1.80), the     enthusiasm for high-speed diesels shows  little sign of abating. Having sampled several of the European RIB  builders’ offerings, The Skipper, a dyed-in-the-wool outboard man, will  concede that they’re onto something with these new-generation diesels.   It seems that some of the larger automotive companies now also see  potential in the marine-engine sector, although if you look back at the  debacle of BMW Marine in the early-mid 80s, you’d wonder why any  outsider would be reckless enough to want to play. However, it appears  that the lightweight diesel scene may well see a lot of action in the  next decade.

In Europe, Volkswagen was solidly on its way to eventually becoming a  huge force in the diesel/sterndrive segment, and making significant  inroads into the OEM market as well as the repower/petrol-replacement  segment. However, for reasons known only to them, they decided they  would no longer commit to the spadework and slog of establishing the  brand against the major players and elected to become an OEM supplier to  one of the main brands, namely CMD. This is hard to comprehend; they  will now begin to achieve the volumes they wanted, but the identity will  be extinguished and the brand equity papered over and lost as the  Volkswagen product sports the CMD banner.

The same “throw-in-your-lot-with the-enemy” mantra does not seem to  apply to Hyundai, however, which is on the type
of huge charge reserved  for those either cockily sure of themselves or wholly oblivious to the  pitfalls ahead. In a plan in which hubris-laced bravery is possibly  equalled by innocent naivety, they are gunning for 5% of the world  market in the next few years. Interestingly, their recently-released  two-engine line-up has several similarities with Volkswagen: they both  have lightweight inline units (a 4-cylinder 170hp for Hyundai and a  5-cylinder 165hp for Volkswagen plus a 250hp V6 for Hyundai and a  Volkswagen V6 with variants from 225-265hp). One thing all these engines  have in common is low weight; they are in fact lighter than the petrol  GM in-line 4s, V6s and V8s in those horsepower categories – ideal  repower candidates for anybody who wants to sympathetically upgrade an  older Sea Ray, Cruisers or Four Winns (or petrol-powered Riviera or  Caribbean etc) to which they have become so attached over the years that  they can’t bear to part with it. Yes, of course the hardened cynics  among us know all about the “heart-over-head” perils of overcapitalizing  an old boat, but mark The Skipper’s words when he tells you that this  is one of the few market segments which could see any perceptible  growth.

As to how Hyundai, one of the world’s largest power train  manufacturers in its own right, hopes to encroach upon Mercruiser’s  market share using a drive unit supplied by that very manufacturer, a  clue to the future should lie in the fact that, as power train  manufacturers, they have more than a little experience in producing  gearboxes of all types, including marine units (albeit of the huge,  commercial-shipping variety). Any company with a theoretical capability  to eventually produce its own proprietary sterndrive – the one key  factor that ultimately scuppered Volkswagen’s efforts – could indeed be a  formidable player. Just ask Yanmar, who are bound to be seeing  gratifying results in the sterndrive sector as a result of no longer  being ridiculously beholden to a competitor.

But aren’t marine diesels – and sterndrives in particular – a pain in  the arse to install? Not at all, say at least two European RIB  manufacturers, who reckon they’re not much harder to fit than a  fuel-injected, fly-by-wire outboard. Many RIBs don’t have an outboard  well, so the transom doesn’t need remodelled, and on both RIB  manufacturers’ products, the hull stringers are fortuitously spaced to  precisely line up with the mountings of the Yanmar or Yamaha units being  fitted. All that’s then needed is a “one-size-fits-all” engine cover.

So there you have it, dear readers. The Skipper reckons that if  you’re looking to expand the parameters of your business and profitably  complement your ongoing OBM activity, it might be worth keeping an eye  on how the lightweight diesel segment matures. And don’t be tempted to  scoff at the repower market. With the current gloomy financial outlook  and torpid economy, you’d be surprised how many people would gladly  shell out $60-70K to give the old darling a new lease of life (the boat  that is; not the wife) rather than spending up to four times that on a  replacement.