In a letter to Bayliner boat dealers, Brunswick outlined its response to the lawsuit filed against it by Genmar Holdings Inc. alleging that Brunswick marketing materials criticized Genmar's VEC closed mold technology, the company announced in a press release dated Thursday, October 31.
Brunswick stated its strong support of closed mold technology and its significant capital investment in the closed mold Multiple Insert Technology (MIT) system used by Brunswick, which it believes will be an important component in the manufacturing process for all of their boat brands, according to the company.
Although Brunswick maintains MIT has advantages over VEC, it's position regarding Genmar's closed mold technology was stated in the April 23, 2001, edition of The Wall Street Journal where Brunswick CEO George Buckley stated "I admire Irwin [Jacobs] for what he's done [with VEC]. Genmar has shown some good leadership by going down this technology pathway."
Brunswick did admit that it provided presentation materials to some dealers that discussed Genmar's VEC technology, however, it also stated that the materials do not - and never did - represent Brunswick's view on closed mold technology and called on its Bayliner dealers to return the materials, according to the company.