Outboard Marine

Outboard Marine Corporation (OMC) was a maker of Evinrude, Johnson and Gale Outboard Motors boat motors and many different brands of boats. It was a multibillion-dollar Fortune 500 corporation. Evinrude began in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1907. OMC was based in Waukegan, Illinois. They also owned several lines of boats such as Chris Craft, Lowe Boats, Princecraft, Four Winns, SeaSwirl, Stratos, and Javelin. OMC was also a parent company to Ryan, which made lawn mowers.

OMC sold 100,000 motors in 2000 and had one third of the outboard market. OMC filed for bankruptcy 22 December 2000 and laid off 7,000 employees.

The Johnson and Evinrude brands were won by bid in February 2001 by Bombardier Recreational Products and the boat division by Genmar Holdings of Minnesota. The former OMC plant #2 in Waukegan, Illinois is now a Superfund cleanup site.

Outboard Marine Corporation sometimes referred to as Outboard Motor Company was formed in 1929 when ELTO was merged with Lockwood-Ash Motor Company. They began using the name OMC in 1956. Outboard Marine Corporation was the world's largest manufacturer and supplier of outboard motors and second largest producer of powerboats. Based in Waukegan, Illinois the company had become famous for its brand-name Johnson and Evinrude outboard motors, as well as its Chris-Craft and Grumman powerboats. Other products under the brand names of Four Winns, Seaswirl, Trade Winds, Sunbird, Stratos, and Hydra-Sports include fiberglass runabouts, cruisers, performance boats, and craft for offshore fishing. Outboard Marine also marketed clothing for boating, and resort wear. Unfortunately, during the late 1980s and early 1990s, Outboard Marine had a difficult time keeping up with the competition, notably archrival Brunswick Corporation, currently the world's largest manufacturer of powerboats.

Motorized transport was just becoming an everyday part of life in 1907, when Ole Evinrude first mass-produced a practical outboard engine for boats. Evinrude placed an advertisement in a motor magazine to introduce his motor, drawing so many inquiries from U.S. and overseas readers that he decided to try large-scale production. Needing financial help with this undertaking, he found a backer and established the Evinrude Motor Company in 1910.

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