citations for verification . please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . november 2009 learn how and when to remove this template message bombardier recreational products type public company traded as tsx doo industry list of bombardier recreational and snow vehicles founded 1942 founder joseph armand bombardier headquarters valcourt quebec canada area served worldwide key people jos boisjoli president and ceo products ski doo can am atv & spyder roadster sea doo pwc and sportboats lynx evinrude outboard motors johnson outboards and rotax services recreational vehicle financing recreational vehicle service revenue 3.194 cad billion 2013 operating income 0.295 cad billion 2013 net income 0.059 cad billion 2013 number of employees 7 100 2013 divisions canada united states mexico finland and austria . website www.brp.com bombardier recreational products brp is a canadian company making various vehicles . once part of bombardier inc. it was founded in 1942 as l auto neige bombardier limit e bombardier snow car limited by joseph armand bombardier at valcourt in the eastern townships quebec . in 2003 bombardier inc. sold its recreational products division to a group of investors bain capital 50 % the bombardier family 35 % and the caisse de d p t et placement du qu bec 15 % . the newly formed company was named bombardier recreational products and included all the activities started 60 years earlier by its founder . as of october 6 2009 update it had about 5 500 employees working ; 1 its revenues in 2007 are above us 2.5 billion . brp has manufacturing facilities in five countries canada the united states wisconsin illinois north carolina mexico finland and austria . the company s products are sold in more than 80 countries 18 of which have their own direct sales network . 2 brp has a long legacy of innovation and has multiple brands ski doo snowmobiles can am motorcycles atvs & spyder roadsters sea doo pwc and sportboats lynx snowmobile evinrude outboard motors johnson outboards and rotax . the ski doo personal snowmobile brand is so iconic especially in canada that it was listed in 17th place on the cbc s the greatest canadian invention list in 2007 . contents 1 snowmobiles 2 development of the small snowmobile 3 motorcycles and atvs 4 invention of the three wheeled roadster 5 sailboats 6 diversification 7 restructuring 8 see also 9 references 10 external links snowmobiles edit 1949 bombardier b12 j5 tractor & trailer capable of snow or muskeg use before the start of the company s development of track vehicles joseph armand bombardier experimented with propeller driven snow vehicles similar to russian aerosanis . his work with snowplane designs can be traced to before 1920 . he quickly abandoned his efforts to develop a snowplane and turned his inventive skills to tracked vehicles . from the start the company made truck sized half track vehicles with skis in the front and caterpillar tracks in the rear designed for the worst winter conditions of the flatland canadian countryside . after producing half tracks in world war ii for the canadian army the company experimented with new forms of track systems and developed an all tracked heavy duty vehicle designed for logging and mining operations in extreme wilderness conditions such as heavy snow or semi liquid muskeg . they produced it under the name muskeg tractor . each track is composed of 2 or more rubber belts that are joined into a loop . the loops are held together with interior wheel guides and exterior cleats commonly called grousers . the tracks are driven by a large drive sprocket that engages the grousers in sequence and causes the track to rotate . 2 belt tracks were common on early model bombardiers as well as for muskeg machines . for deep snow use wider tracks employing additional belts are used for added flotation over the snow . the research for the track base made it possible to produce a relatively small continuous rubber track for the light one or two person snowmobile the founder of the company had dreamed about during his teen years . this led to the invention of snowmobiles as we know them . the company created the snowmobile market citation needed and held its own after international competitors entered the market in the late 1960s . from the 1940s through the early 1970s bombardier built the most successful citation needed snowcat models ever produced by any snowcat manufacturer . citation needed the b12 seated 12 people and the c18 seated 18 . both were similar in design with long tracks in the rear and skis used to steer the vehicle . the b12 and c18 were very fast for their day with speeds over the snow exceeding 30 miles per hour . most historic and most modern snowcats have a top speed of barely 20 mph . the bombardier b12 and c18 were probably the precursors to the more modern snow coach currently used by resorts for transporting tourists . in their day the b12 and c18 vehicles were used as school buses for mail delivery and as emergency vehicles in northern united states and canada and were best suited to flat land conditions frozen roadways or frozen lakes . while more than 3 000 of the bombardier b12 c18 variants were produced there was plenty of competition for bombardier to contend with in both the north american and world markets . most of the bombardier production stayed in north american and it was the most popular citation needed series of snowcats ever produced but it was clearly a niche product . the front ski design was incapable of being used in deep snow and rough ground conditions and this opened the door for the development of dual track and quad track snowcats . unfortunately the front ski design was not easily adapted to change for other ground conditions so while it was successful on flat lands frozen lakes and snow covered roads it could not compete on rough off road conditions . the combination of the lack of design flexibility incompatibility with off road conditions and the advent of modern snowplowing practices of public roadways beginning in the 1950s and becoming common in remote areas by the 1960s probably led to the demise of the b12 c18 design . today b12 s are still in used in large scale ice fishing in northern canada . notable competitors included the aktiv snow trac st4 from sweden thiokol and tucker sno cat from the usa . the snow trac was produced virtually unchanged until 1981 but it was very successful with over 2 000 units sold and it was used all over the globe for exploration and commercial purposes as well as the 1972 winter olympics in sapporo japan . tucker sno cat grew to become one of the world s largest builders of these vehicles and currently produces a wide range of large commercial and exploration vehicles from its location in medford oregon usa . thiokol produced many popular units notably the imp super imp and spryte models but changed ownership and name several times before going out of business in 2000 as the logan machine company and manufacturer of the lmc brand . development of the small snowmobile edit exterior of a steel bodied r64 operated by jvb between tyin and eidsbugarden . armand dreamed of developing a fast lightweight snowmobile that could carry one or two people . in the early 1950s armand set aside his dream to focus on developing his company s other tracked vehicles . but by the end of the decade smaller more efficient engines had been developed and were starting to come on the market . armand resumed his efforts to build a miniature snowmobile . he worked alongside his eldest son germain who shared his father s mechanical talents . armand and germain developed several prototypes of the lightweight snowmobile and finally the first bombardier snowmobile went on sale in 1959 . bombardier br180 snowcat pulling snowmobile trail groomer attachment jumping with a ski doo xrs 800 the ski doo was originally intended to be named the ski dog because bombardier meant it to be a practical vehicle to replace the dogsled for hunters and trappers . by accident a printer misinterpreted the name and printed ski doo in the first sales brochure . 3 public interest in the small snowmobiles grew quickly . suddenly a new winter sport was born centred in quebec . in the first year bombardier sold 225 ski doos ; four years later 8 210 were sold . but armand was reluctant to focus too much on the ski doo and move resources away from his all terrain vehicles . he vividly remembered his earlier business setbacks that forced him to diversify . armand slowed down promotion of the ski doo line to prevent it from dominating the other company products but still dominate the entire snowmobile industry . the snowmobiles produced were of exceptional quality and performance earning a better reputation than the rival polaris and arctic cat brands of motosleds . in 1971 bombardier completed the purchase of the moto ski company to expand the ski doo line and eliminate a competitor from the marketplace . some of the sleds made by ski doo are the formula iii mach 1 and mach z with rotax engines . while it is a commonly held misconception that all ski doo snowmobiles were powered by rotary valved engines this is not true . only two cylinder rotax engines were equipped with rotary valves . as a rule the later rotary valved sleds were liquid cooled as well . fan cooled sleds were usually piston port 2 stroke induction . sleds such as the formula iii later model mach 1 s and the mach z were powered by three cylinder 2 stroke rotax engines . in 1994 the company produced the first snowmobile equipped specifically for mountain riding the ski doo summit . ski doo snowmobiles have consistently been extremely competitive for performance and in the marketplace up to the current day taking a number of national titles in racing events from sno x to hill climbing . in 1999 ski doo introduced the zx aluminum chassis which was lighter weight with better suspension and thus very successful in sno cross competition . in 2003 ski doo introduced rider forward rev chassis which changed the sport and was followed by other manufacturers . in 2008 ski doo introduced the xp chassis which moved the rider further forward with major weight reduction . the xp was the lightest machine available with power to weight ratios in the summit models for the first time under 3 lb per hp . motorcycles and atvs edit main article can am motorcycles during the 1970s bombardier built the can am brand of off road competition motorcycles designed for motocross and enduro with rotax engines displacing 125 175 248 and 366 500 and 800 cc . the bikes competed successfully in professional racing with gary jones winning the 1974 us 250cc ama motocross national championship . 4 in 1983 bombardier licensed the brand and outsourced development and production of the can am motorcycles to armstrong ccm motorcycles of lancashire england . 1987 was the last model year for can am . in 2007 bombardier renamed their all terrain vehicle line of products can am . can am off road has seven models of atvs the outlander the renegade the commander the maverick the ds the traxter the quest and the rally . the traxter and quest no longer in production had two engine sizes 500cc and 650cc . the rally also no longer in production was available with a 200cc engine . the outlander is a utility style atv available with five engine sizes 400cc single cylinder and 500cc 650cc 800cc and 1000cc v twin engines . the outlander