Brunswick consolidates brands to form Venture Group

The Brunswick Boat Group announced today that it is combining the Bayliner, Heyday, Quicksilver and Uttern boat brands to form the Venture Group, which will be led by Bayliner president Keith Yunger.

“Each of these brands is well positioned to support the goal of expanding boating participation and access by providing a gateway to affordable, safe and exceptional boating experiences to a growing and diverse group of global customers,” Brunswick Boat Group president Huw Bower explained in a company release.

The release goes on to explain The Venture Group will give Brunswick Boat Group the opportunity to leverage the capabilities and best practices from all key functions of the group, allowing these four brands to accelerate their progress toward quality, technology, world-class customer service and a superior boating experience.

Joining Yunger in the leadership of the Venture group are Corey Duke, who has been named general manager for the Bayliner and Heyday brands, and Benoit Verley, who will assume the role of general manager for the Quicksilver and Uttern brands. Both Duke and Verley will have full responsibility and accountability for directing commercial activities – including sales, marketing, customer service and the management of the product portfolio – for their respective brands.

Mike Fritts will lead operations for the group and be responsible for manufacturing, the supply chain and logistics. New product development will be led by Jonathan Flesher.

Back in April, Brunswick combined manufacturing of several boat brands into an Integrated Manufacturing Center utilising its Merritt Island, Florida facility due to excess capacity created with the discontinuation of certain Sea Ray and Boston Whaler commercial models.

The Boston Whaler facility in Edgewater, Florida is being recreated as a Fiberglass Boat Technology Center, scheduled to open later this year.