Verado 600 HP V12: interview with Mercury’s Managing Director

Mercury Marine’s new 7.6 liter V12 600hp Verado outboard engine represents a quantum leap for boats larger than 45/50 feet. Among other things, this is the hallmark of an engine that “redefines outboard performance for the ultimate luxury boating experience”.

Mercury Marine confirms itself as a multinational 100% yachting-oriented company that has the right numbers for “production”, as Alessandro Conti, General Manager of the American giant’s Italian division, told us. In the midst of the 61st Genoa Boat Show, hearing a live account of this prodigious outboard helped us to understand who is really taking the lead in a particular market segment that seemed to have been looking for a real player for a while. Mercury wasn’t wasting any time. Also (and because) such powerful engines are certainly not developed in short periods.

“Revolutionary innovations” such as the steerable gearcase and two-speed transmission appear on the Verado 600 HP. These are two pure innovations that have never been seen before in outboards.

“Fluid, silent” and really appealing, the Verado 600 HP V12 also carries with it the evidence of various comparative tests, which describe it as having a cruising range 20%longer than competitors, over which it obviously dominates as the most powerful of all. But let’s pass the word to Alessandro Conti.

After the 450R V8 comes the Verado 600 HP V12, for the second time the most powerful outboard on the market.

High-powered outboards are a ever-growing segment that is clearly not matured in the same way all over the world. But it’s already interesting enough for Mercury to cover it in the best possible way.

How long did it take to get this engine into production?

This engine typically has a production path of at least five years. What’s positive, for those who work at Mercury, is that someone (at Mercury) already had a vision of what would be needed over such a long time. And that is not secondary. The product comes at the right time, because this market segment is growing in a particularly important way for a year and a half now. So the Verado 600 HP comes at a time of growth and demand for this type of engine.

What does the arrival of the Verado 600 HP V12s change compared to the 450R V8s?

With the 450R we have managed to achieve triple or quadruple application, at the lower limit of 50 feet, both on fibreglass boats and on the so-called inflatables, even though they are no longer inflatables because, both in terms of size and power applied, they rightly fall into the Maxi-Rib category. With the arrival of the 600 hp we can now also power 60-foot boats, obviously not in single but multiple applications.

A special feature of these engines?

The fact that they don’t “spin” allows them to be kept extremely close together and compact, but there is a space of at least four fingers between one engine and the other. This allows the engines to be easily installed in multiple configurations.

The financial investment behind this type of engine was obviously very high, but what’s more valuable?

The additional investment is in production capacity. As a listed company and exclusively marine industry-oriented, Mercury has the ability to focus solely on this market. For us, this means producing everything in-house, literally starting with the casting of the engines. It’s certainly an interesting result for Mercury, but also for our customers, dealers, boatyards and our customers’ clientele. We are 100% marine.

Verado 600 HP V12 Technical Specs