Patt - As a non-boating industry person, I did a little research on the price of outboards. For instance, i'm considering a 75 hp 2 stroke for my 175:
Merc: 75 carb classic $5798
75 Opti $7227
Nissan: 70 TLDI $7504
Rude: 75 E-Tec (all that is sold now) $8514
Tohatsu: 70 TLDI $7355
Yamaha: 70 $6390
Add other vendors who only make 4 strokes
Honda - 75 4 stroke $9025
Merc - 75 4 Stroke $7590
So................... the CHEAPEST investment is the Merc 2 stroke carb'd motor by about $550 or more.
So I agree that if Merc and Tracker are splitting an exclusive relationship, with Tracker's volume a vendor will step up and provide a nice bulk pricing!