Mercruiser Marine, founded in 1939, is a division of
Brunswick of
Lake Forest,
Illinois,
in the
United States. Mercruiser provides engines for
private, commercial and government sales. Mercruiser also has its own line of
racing engines tailored for power and speed. The company's primary business is
outboard motors. Mercruiser Outboards, 30 Hp and
less, are made by
Tohatsu in Japan.
[1]
Mercruiser Marine builds 40, 50 and 60 horsepower outboard motors in
Suzhou, China.
[2]
Mercruiser also manufactures engines over 75 horsepower in their Fond du Lac,
Wisconsin hub in the USA.
The company began when engineer
Carl Kiekhaefer purchased a small outboard motor company in
Cedarburg,
Wisconsin.
Kiekhaefer's original intention for the Kiekhaefer Corporation was to make
magnetic separators for the dairy industry. The purchase included 300 defective
outboard
motors.
Kiekhaefer and a small staff of employees rebuilt the motors and sold them to
Montgomery Ward, a mail-order company. The motors were much improved, so the
buyer purchased more. Kiekhaefer designed motors that withstood the elements
better than his competition and called the motor Mercruiser after the
Roman god.
[3]
Kiekhaefer took more than 16,000 orders at the 1940 New York Boat Show.
Read the full history of Mercruiser at Wikipedia
by clicking here.