Mercury Marine was presented a pair of customer satisfaction awards today from J.D. Power and Associates for its direct-fuel-injected and sterndrive engines.

Mercury MerCruiser, Mercury's sterndrive company in Stillwater, Okla., was
recognized by the highly regarded global marketing information firm
as "Highest in Customer Satisfaction With Sterndrive Engines." Mercury
OptiMax is the marine industry's leading direct-fuel-injected (DFI) two-stroke
outboard that is built in Fond du Lac, Wis. It was recognized as "Highest in
Customer Satisfaction With Two-Stroke Outboard Engines."

The awards were presented this morning at the J.D. Power and Associates
awards ceremony in conjunction with the Miami International Boat Show at
the Miami Beach Convention Center.

Mercury Marine President Patrick C. Mackey accepted the awards on behalf
of Mercury. He was accompanied by Mercury Outboard President Mark
Schwabero and MerCruiser President Kevin Grodzki. Mackey said the entire
Mercury organization is gratified to receive such a strong affirmation by its
customers.

"I can't begin to tell you how important these are to Mercury Marine,"
Mackey said. "It's great to be recognized in the industry for a job well done,
but more importantly, these awards represent the voice of the consumer
telling us we are building high-quality products and standing behind them the
way a world-class organization should.

"Customer satisfaction is the reason behind everything we do, so this
feedback is extremely pleasing. I assure you we take the rankings published
by J.D. Power and Associates very seriously."

Mercury Marine is the world leader in recreational marine propulsion with a full
line of outboard, sterndrive and inboard engines, plus the marine industry's
most extensive line of propellers, lubricants and parts and accessories. It is
the only marine manufacturer to offer outboard and sterndrive propulsion
systems. The 12-member OptiMax family ranges from 75 to 300 horsepower,
and is built in Mercury's headquarters city of Fond du Lac, Wis. The
MerCruiser Sterndrive lineup includes a dozen models from the four-cylinder,
135 hp 3.0 liter to the 8.1 liter V-8, 425 hp, 496 MAG HO.

Mackey was named president of Mercury in 2000 and immediately set a
course to improve the company's processes and products in order to better
fulfill the needs and expectations of dealers, boat builders and consumers.
Part of the plan called for every Mercury Marine facility to be ISO 9001-2000
Certified, a feat that was accomplished in the fall of 2003. ISO certification
involves documenting and auditing virtually every process in every phase of
the organization, which ensures that the company employs a sound,
systematic approach to business. ISO 9001-2000 is built on eight principles,
the first of which is customer focus. Mercury remains the only marine engine
manufacturer to be 100 percent ISO Certified.

Mercury has also embraced the principles of Lean Six Sigma, a methodology
that analyzes processes across the business in an effort to reduce variation
and wasted effort. The resulting process improvements enhance the company
in many ways, but most importantly they promote continuous improvement to
product quality and make the business more efficient.

J.D. Power and Associates is a global marketing information entity that
conducts research and offers consulting and performance improvement
services that are used by a variety of industries to improve product quality
and customer satisfaction. The company does not publish or incorporate the
opinions of J.D. Power and Associates in rankings, but bases research solely
on responses from millions of consumers and business customers worldwide.
J.D. Power and Associates funds all of its own syndicated research in order to
deliver unbiased results, and then uses that research to present nationally
syndicated studies that serve as industry benchmarks for measuring and
tracking quality and customer satisfaction.