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The Outboard Expert: Born-On Date Replaces Model Year
Every outboard sticker tells a story.
By Charles Plueddeman
March 30, 2007

A sticker on a Yamaha outboard indicates it date of manufacture as June, 2006. The photo was taken at a dealership on March 28, 2007.

Most boaters probably missed the news that three major outboard manufacturers - Mercury Marine, Yamaha and Honda - have stopped the practice of designating model years for their products. So far Suzuki and BRP-Evinrude remain hold-outs to a tradition that goes back more than 100 years, but the change make sense for a number of reasons. It has also created a few issues for dealers and consumers.

The elimination of model years solves a number of problems for outboard manufacturers, boat builders and dealers. Because so many new outboards are sold directly through boat builders, rather than as a retail sale directly to the public, there is a constant struggle to match outboard inventory with boat inventory - it's a real trick to use up all of the 2007-model outboards just before production of the 2008-model boats begin, especially when each boat builder is on a different model change-over schedule. Dealers are reluctant to stock a lot of new outboard inventory because they don't want to have to discount motors from the previous model year that don't get sold before the "new motors" appear. Which means if you want to buy a new motor to repower your boat, you could end up waiting some time for an outboard that has to be ordered from the factory.