Chattanooga, Tennessee -

Last night, Yamaha pulled back the curtains and offered writers a glimpse at their new four-stroke marine engines for 2010. At the same time, they also offered an insight into at least one company's thinking about the dismal past couple of years and their aggressive plans for the future.

For Yamaha, it's been a time when they have worked to stay engaged with partners, dealers and consumers, despite the tough economic climate. As one company official told me, we've the past year creating programs, incentives, coupons, whatever, to help our partners stay in the game - and to keep us engaged with the customers.

Along with the creation of those survival plans for their partners, Yamaha's also been preparing to roll out their most aggressive new product line in their history. So, they've also worked to maintain consumer engagement through an aggressive whisper campaign about new products - a campaign that's featured an extensive application of new media to create anticipatory "buzz" about their products.

Yamaha's betting they can turn the engagement buzz into excitement about their new engines.

As Yamaha Marine Group president Phil Dyskow said, however, that doesn't mean the industry is going to immediately snap out of the slump that's caused tough times across the board.

In fact, Dyskow said, the company recognizes that even with increased sales levels in 2009, levels in 2010 through 2012 probably won't reach the sales levels of 2007. Instead, it will be a gradual movement upward. But that slow upward movement was, in his opinion, encouraging news - especially in light of the fact that the boating community hasn't lost wholesale numbers. In fact, boat owners have remained loyal to their sport, they've simply stopped buying.

That tightening of the purse strings, however, has also created a pent up demand for innovative, efficient and exciting new products. Yamaha feels they have the products that can capture that pent-up demand and energize consumers to buy.

Yamaha's new product introduction, however, couldn't be classified as gradual. Across their product lines, the company has pared engine weights, boosted performance, and makes a compelling case that the four-stroke engine is no longer an inferior choice in anything from weight to fuel efficiency.

Part of that performance is through reduced weight. In their V-6 offshore outboard series, for example, the 250hp and 225hp models (F250 and F225) offer 4.2 liter displacement with 51 fewer pounds of weight than other Yamaha V6 four-stroke outboards of comparable horsepower.

"The new F300, F250 and F225 are stronger, lighter, quicker and smarter than other outboards in their class," said Phil Dyskow, Yamaha Marine Group president. "Our new family of four-stroke offshore outboards has less weight than the previous generation as well as best-in-class performance in most categories."

Part of the increased performance and reduced weight is due to the application of new manufacturing technologies. One, plasma fusing, results in sleeveless engine blocks. In addition to saving the weight the weight of steel sleeves, it allows more room for the pistons themselves.

That means weight savings and increased displacements in the engines as well as sixty percent smoother cylinder walls. Plasma fusing is new to the outboard engine space, but has been used in both high-performance automobiles and piston-aircraft engines.

Each item in the Yamaha engine line is benefitting from the new technologies, from the big-bore, high-powered marine line to the small portable engines. Weight savings from composite cowlings to lighter weight lowers and mounting brackets give the new engines enhanced performance as well as more efficient operation- all items Yamaha marketers believe will energize the more than 17-million boat owners in the country to think Yamaha when it comes time to buy a new boat or upgrade an older one.

And there's something for almost every boat owner when it comes to rigging. From a new Command Link plus system that enables boat operators to easily monitor and control multiple engines from a new five-inch "smart" LCD panel to a new security system (the Yamaha Customer Onboard Protection -or YCOP - system) with a key fob capable of disabling the engine, to new propellers for everything from heavy-work boats to high-speed performance models.

"It's been a challenging time," says Yamaha's Martin Peters, "but we're confident these new engines will change everything - and excite customers."

This morning, we'll be out on the water outside the company's top-secret test facilities to see if the performance matches the buzz.

We'll keep you posted.

- Jim Shepherd
The Outdoor Wire

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