BLOG: 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 Whilst the excise-exempt status of marine diesel has been controversially rescinded in the UK (where it soared virtually overnight from about AU$0.60 per litre to a petrol-like AU$1.80), the enthusiasm for high-speed diesels shows little sign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.