Mercury Racing names new director amid layoffs

Mercury Racing, the high-performance division of Brunswick’s Mercury Marine, has named its director of engineering, Jeff Broman, as the new director of the Mercury Racing category.

The appointment is part of a reorganisation at Mercury Racing, with general manager Stuart Halley and director of customer experience Steve Miller being let go from the organisation after careers spanning three decades.

Mercury chose to avoid any mention of layoffs in its public statement about Broman’s appointment but later confirmed the news to MIN.

“They decided to make the business more efficient and eliminate positions they don’t need,” Halley tells Speed on the Water. “This is a business. If you are going to run a company, you have to run it as efficiently as you can.”

Shelly Kuhn, Mercury’s manager for communications and public relations, issued a statement about Broman’s appointment.

“Jeff has been a leader at Mercury for 20 years, most recently serving as the director of engineering for racing,” the statement says. “[He] will oversee Mercury Racing’s product portfolio while leveraging the award-winning capabilities afforded by Mercury’s global scale and expertise in R&D, sales, PD&E, marketing and more.”

The statement continues: “This change in structure is reflective of our continued commitment to the Mercury Racing brand, our passionate and dedicated customers and our commitment to continuing to provide award-winning products and services to the racing and high-performance market around the world.”

Last month, Brunswick reported a ‘record-setting display’ from Mercury Marine during the 2023 Cannes Yachting Festival, with 66 per cent of the outboard engines on display. 

Main image: Jeff Broman. Image courtesy of Mercury Marine.