With existing vendors having a price point of $2500 and anglers lined up to buy it sounds like some smart folks decided they can compete.

What company is coming out with one?

3 new players, Minn kota must have been making a killing

I think you're going to be saying Buh-bye after I-cast, but I don't think it will be a MG. Garmin is the one everyone will kick the ultrex to the curb over.

I hope all the curb kicking will yield some cheap ultrex trolling motors.

Lowrance has been claiming to be making one for a long time disappointing people for years. I can't see what the others could do to top the ultrex other than maybe making it lower profile and a little lighter. GPS is only so accurate and MK spot lock does a dang good job of holding you. Any of the others beat MK in that regard and it will hardly be noticeable. I think what you'll see is each player making their trolling motor integrate with their graphs just like MK did. Power Pole is the most interesting newcomer to me.

Somebody might make a brushless one, me not knowing [censored] about electric motors I don't know what improvements you see from that. People seem to be excited about it though.

As long as the new motors work well the market should force minn-kota to adjust their prices which is good for those who always wanted an Ultrex but couldn't drop the cash for them. Right?

I do not think anybody is going to come in with a better trolling motor then MK and it be much cheaper, I am going to wait and see what Lowrance comes out with before I order my new MK since I have HDS graphs, IMO MK has been by far the best trolling motor for awhile now, will be interesting to see what others come out with.

who is it I need a new one?

Competition and choice is good. Been a whirlwind of changes since I last owned my boat. Been fun to watch but also seems expensive to keep up with as well.

don't bet on the prices going down as long the demand is strong don't bet on a price reduction.

BBG Marine

I've been running an Ulterra for over a year without any issues. The only time you get into issues with the auto stow and deploy is if your batteries run dead and they have a work around in the owners manual on how to get it stowed until you can recharge the batteries. I mounted mine on a quick release bracket just in case but no issues. As with anything if something breaks you out of luck, what if a cable breaks your still screwed.

All I know is we had a MotorGuide on a '97 Stratos 201.. Original owners, and sold the boat in 2016. From '97 to the day we sold it, that MotorGuide has NEVER, EVER, EVER given any issues whatsoever.. Any time you clicked the button, it was spinning. And let me tell you, that thing has through some HELL.

New boat has a Minn Kota. Never again. If there's one thing on this boat I've had constant problems with, it's the piece of [censored] on the front. I've had to repair it so many times now that at this point it's held together by duct tape and zip ties. Biggest POS I've ever seen.

I'll be throwing a MotorGuide XI5 on the front before too long.

Well I had the opposite experience. The Motorguide that I had was always breaking. Had to replace parts over and over until I finally got to a part that they didn't make anymore. Got an Ultrex, had it for over a year now and I'm absolutely thrilled with it. Never going back.