Brunswick Corporation is a manufacturer and marketer of leading consumer brands,
including: Mercury and Mariner outboard engines; Mercury MerCruiser sterndrive
and inboard engines; Teignbridge propellers; Sea Ray, Bayliner, Maxum, Meridian,
and Sealine pleasure boats; Hatteras luxury sportfishing convertibles and motoryachts;
Baja high-performance boats; Boston Whaler and Trophy offshore fishing boats;
Princecraft fishing, deck and pontoon boats; Attwood marine parts and accessories;
Seachoice marine parts and accessories; MotorGuide trolling motors; Mercury Precision
Parts; Quicksilver and Swivl-Eze marine-related components and accessories; Integrated
Dealer Systems dealer management systems; MotoTron engine control systems; Navman
global positioning systems-based products and marine electronics; Northstar marine
navigation systems; Life Fitness, Hammer Strength and ParaBody fitness equipment;
Brunswick bowling products, including capital equipment, parts, supplies and consumer
products; Brunswick billiards tables and accessories; and Valley-Dynamo billiards,
Air Hockey and foosball tables. The Company also owns and operates: Brunswick
bowling centers across the United States and internationally; Land 'N' Sea, a
distributor of marine parts and accessories; and Omni Fitness, a chain of specialty
fitness equipment retail stores.
The Company depends on distributors, dealers and retailers (Dealers) for the
majority of its recreational boat sales, and significant portions of its marine
engine, fitness and bowling and billiards products. The Company has approximately
14,000'Dealers serving its business segments worldwide. The Company's marine
Dealers typically carry boats, engines or related parts and accessories.
Most of the Company's Dealers are independent companies or proprietors that
range in size from small, family-owned dealerships to large, publicly traded
organizations with substantial revenues and multiple locations. Some of the
Company's Dealers sell the Company's products exclusively, while others also
carry competitors' products. The Company owns a minority interest in certain
marine Dealers and a 100'percent ownership interest in Omni Fitness, an exercise
equipment retailer operated by the Company's Life Fitness division.
Marine Engine Segment: IDS, Mariner, MercNet, MerCruiser, Mercury, MercuryCare,
Mercury Marine, Mercury Parts Express, Mercury Precision Parts, Mercury Propellers,
Mercury Racing, MotorGuide, MotoTron, Northstar, OptiMax, Pinpoint, Quicksilver,
SeaPro, SmartCraft, SportJet, Teignbridge Propellers and Verado.
Boat Segment: Attwood, Baja, Bayliner, Boston Whaler, Hatteras, Land 'N' Sea,
Master Dealer, Maxum, Meridian, Princecraft, Sea Ray, Seachoice, Sealine, Swivl-Eze
and Trophy.
Fitness Segment: Flex Deck, Hammer Strength, Lifecycle, Life Fitness, Omni
Fitness and ParaBody.
Bowling'& Billiards Segment: Air Hockey, Anvilane Pro Lane, Ball Wall,
Brunswick, Brunswick Billiards, Brunswick Pavilion, Brunswick Zone, Centennial,
CenterMaster, Cosmic Bowling, DBA Products, Dominion, Dynamo, Frameworx, Fuze,
Gold Crown, Inferno, IQ, Lane Shield, Lightworx, Monster, Throbot, Tornado,
U.S.'Play by Brunswick, Valley, Valley-Dynamo, Vector, Viz-A-Ball and Zone.
Competitive Conditions and Position
The Company believes that it has a reputation for quality in its highly competitive
lines of business. The Company competes in its various markets by utilizing
efficient production techniques; innovative technological advancements; effective
marketing, advertising and sales efforts; providing high-quality products at
competitive prices; and good after-market services.
Strong competition exists with respect to each of the Company's product groups,
but no single manufacturer competes with the Company in all product groups.
In each product area, competitors range in size from large, highly diversified
companies to small, single-product businesses.
Marine Engine Segment: The Company believes it has the largest dollar sales
volume of recreational marine engines in the world. The marine engine market
is highly competitive among several major international companies that comprise
the majority of the market, and several smaller companies. There are also many
competitors in the marine accessories, electronics, engine controls, navigation
systems and global positioning system-based businesses. Competitive advantage
in these marine engine and accessories markets is a function of product features,
technological leadership, quality, service, performance and durability, along
with effective promotion, distribution and pricing.
Boat Segment: The Company believes it has the largest dollar sales volume of
pleasure boats in the world. There are several major manufacturers of pleasure
and offshore fishing boats, along with hundreds of smaller manufacturers. Consequently,
this business is both highly competitive and highly fragmented. The Company
believes it has the broadest range of boat product offerings in the world, with
boats ranging from 12 to 100'feet. In all of its boat operations, the Company
competes on the basis of product features, technology, quality, dealer service,
performance, value, durability and styling, along with effective promotion,
distribution and pricing.
Fitness Segment: The Company believes it is the world's largest manufacturer
of commercial fitness equipment and a leading manufacturer of high-quality consumer
fitness equipment. There are a few large manufacturers of fitness equipment
and hundreds of small manufacturers, which creates a highly fragmented competitive
landscape. Many of the Company's fitness equipment products feature industry-leading
product innovations, and the Company places significant emphasis on new product
introductions. Competitive emphasis is also placed on product quality, marketing
activities, pricing and service. The Company also operates Omni Fitness, a chain
of 45 specialty fitness equipment retail stores, where emphasis is placed on
providing excellent customer service and offering competitive products.
Bowling'& Billiards Segment: The Company believes it is the world's leading
full-line designer and producer of bowling products and billiards tables. There
are several large manufacturers of bowling products whereas the bowling retail
market is highly fragmented. Competitive emphasis is placed on product innovation,
quality, marketing activities, pricing and service. The Company also operates
130 retail bowling centers worldwide, including those operated by the Company's
joint ventures, where emphasis is placed on enhancing the bowling and entertainment
experience, maintaining quality facilities and providing excellent customer
service.
64.72% 