Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/459961
www.BoatingIndustry.com 12 | Boating Industry | February 2015 BY JONATHAN SWEET t he last year has been very eventful for Mercury, with the introduction of its fi rst purpose-built sterndrive engine in 2014, along with a number of new outboards. There was also a change in leadership, as Mercury president Mark Schwabero was named president and chief operating offi cer of Brunswick Corp. Taking over his role was John Pfeifer, who had served as vice president – global operations for Mercury since 2012. Boating Industry recently talked to Pfeifer about some of the changes and innovations at Mercury, and where the company is headed. Some answers were edited for space. Visit BoatingIndustry.com to see the full article. Boating Industry: 2014 ended up being a pretty big year for Mercury, with a lot of new products from the purpose-built sterndrive to new outboards. What was the highlight for you? PFEIFER: I would say probably the big- gest overarching highlight was our 75th anniversary. We've made 15 million engines. In Sep- tember 2014 we determined that we had made our 75,000th L6 Verado. We've made 140,000 total Verados if you include the L4 Verado, so it was a big year. Along with that, we won the Manufac- turer of the Year award for the mega cate- gory in Wisconsin. We were up against some pretty tough competition, so we were pretty delighted that we had won that manufacturer of the year award in our 75th anniversary. From a company standpoint, in 2014 we completed and brought on line additional capacity in our castings group, in our ma- chining group, in our assembly with that new 4.5-liter marine purpose-built sterndrive product. And we brought on line added abil- ity in research and development, so it was really a huge year. Then you add to that the introduction of the 75 to 115 four-stroke product, which has been a blockbuster already. We're gain- ing market share with that product. ... And, of course, the new marine purpose-built stern- drive engines. That's the fi rst marine purpose- built engine that we've had in the industry. Boating Industry: Let's talk about the purpose-built sterndrive. Why do you feel that's the right way to go? PFEIFER: This was a huge decision. I believe 100 percent – and everybody does here – that this was absolutely the right decision not only for Mercury, but also the entire industry. For decades … all of our products, and all of the industry's products, in sterndrive and inboard were automotive derivatives. That model served the industry pretty well for a long, long time. What's changed and why we had to make a decision is that the auto industry is really working hard to meet and to exceed the fuel economy requirements that are coming from CAFE regulations. As a result of that, the new automotive engines that are coming out are very differ- ent, they're much more complex, they've got a lot of expensive new technology that is really aimed at on-road performance. Un- fortunately, it's not necessarily good for all marine applications. Some of the new tech- nology they're adding, like variable timing, they really don't provide very much benefi t … to marine applications and sometimes are hurting quality. They are adding cost with- out adding very much benefi t. Our new engines, they feature a cast iron block and the new auto engines are all alumi- num. There's a problem with that as cast iron is certainly better for marine applications … because [it has] superior corrosion resistance. Furthermore – and this is a critical point – a marine engine needs all of the torque and all of the power to be used continuously. If you look with Mercury Marine president John Pfeifer