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Briggs & Stratton is the world’s largest
producer of gasoline engines for outdoor power equipment. These engines are primarily aluminum alloy
gasoline engines ranging from 3 to 31 horsepower. Additionally, through its wholly owned
subsidiary, Briggs & Stratton Power Products Group, LLC, Briggs &
Stratton is a leading designer, manufacturer and marketer of portable
generators, pressure washers and related accessories (“Home Power Products”),
and lawn and garden and turf care through its Simplicity, Snapper, Ferris and Murray businesses (“Yard
Power Products”). These products are
sold through consumer home centers, department stores, mass merchants,
warehouse clubs and independent dealers.
Briggs
& Stratton’s engines are used primarily by the lawn and garden equipment
industry, which accounts for about 80% of engine sales. Major lawn and garden equipment applications
include walk-behind lawn mowers, riding lawn mowers and garden tillers. The remaining 20% of engine sales are for use
on products for industrial, construction, agricultural and other consumer
applications, which include generators, pumps and pressure washers. Many retailers specify Briggs &
Stratton’s engines on the powered equipment they sell, and the Briggs &
Stratton name is often featured prominently on a product despite the fact the
engine is only a component. Briggs &
Stratton engines are marketed under various brand names including ClassicTM,
SprintTM, QuattroTM, Quantum(R), INTEKTM,
Industrial PlusTM, and VanguardTM.
Approximately
25% of Briggs & Stratton’s net sales are derived from sales in
international markets, primarily to customers in Europe. Briggs & Stratton is a leading supplier
of gasoline engines in developed countries where there is an established lawn
and garden equipment market. Briggs
& Stratton also exports engines to developing nations where its engines are
used in agricultural, marine, construction and other applications.
Briggs
& Stratton manufactures replacement engines and service parts and sells
them to sales and service distributors.
These distributors supply service parts and replacement engines directly
to approximately 35,000 independently owned, authorized service dealers
throughout the world. These distributors
and service dealers implement Briggs & Stratton’s commitment to reliability
and service.
Briggs
& Stratton manufactures engines and parts at the following U.S. locations:
Wauwatosa, Wisconsin;
Murray, Kentucky;
Poplar Bluff and Rolla, Missouri;
Auburn, Alabama;
and Statesboro, Georgia. Briggs & Stratton manufactures Power
Products in Jefferson, Wisconsin;
Munnsville, New York;
McDonough, Georgia;
and Port Washington, Wisconsin.
Briggs & Stratton has joint manufacturing
ventures with Daihatsu Motor Company (a Toyota Subsidiary) for the manufacture
of engines in Japan, and
with Starting Industrial of Japan for the production of rewind starters in the U.S. Briggs & Stratton is also the majority
owner in a joint venture with China Machinery & Electronic Holding
Corporation for the production of engines in China. Briggs & Stratton has a strategic
relationship with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) for the global distribution of air-cooled gasoline
engines manufactured by MHI in Japan
under Briggs & Stratton’s VanguardTM brand.
An early
and successful integrator of the Economic Value Added (EVA) discipline into its
organization (1989), the Company has compiled an impressive record of producing
economic profits. In 2005, Briggs &
Stratton was named to Forbes magazine’s Platinum list of “America’s Best
Big Companies” (for the third year in a row).
For fiscal 2005, the company reported net earnings of $136 million on
sales of $2.65 billion.
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