CANT INDEPENDENT BUILDERS AND SUPPLIERS SIMPLY CONTINUE AS THEY HAVE IN THE PAST?
In an oligarchy, the companies, which are in a position to control the supply, can and almost certainly will exercise that control. Dealers must have access to power to survive. For builders, power represents between thirty and sixty percent of outboard or I/O boat products. Since the “big three,” control approximately eighty percent of outboard sales and a huge majority of the I/O sales, the power companies probably make more off the independently built boats than the independent builders themselves. Ultimately, it could become a relatively simple matter to manipulate engine and/or package programs so that the dealers favor boats built by the power companies, or their favored affiliates. Unless this trend can be stopped, many of the independent builders may be unable to survive and the suppliers will have no choice but to compete for the ever-lower profit margins of the mega-companies. However, if the number of builders is reduced and if the mega-companies consolidate their business w
