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Bombardier
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Bombardier Inc. is a Canadian conglomerate, founded by Joseph-Armand Bombardier as L'Auto-Neige Bombardier Limitée in 1942, at Valcourt in the Eastern Townships, Quebec. Over the years it has been a large manufacturer of regional aircraft, business jets, mass transportation equipment, recreational equipment and a financial services provider. Bombardier is a Fortune Global 500 conglomerate company. Its headquarters are in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Bombardier is the current main sponsor of Derby County FC.
History
Joseph-Armand Bombardier was a mechanic who dreamed of building a vehicle that could "float on snow." In 1937, he designed and produced his first snowmobile in his small repair shop in Valcourt, Quebec.
Bombardier's technological breakthrough in the design of bush vehicles came in the mid-1930s when he developed a drive system that revolutionized travel in snow and swampy conditions.
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Encyclopedia
Bombardier Inc. is a Canadian conglomerate, founded by Joseph-Armand Bombardier as L'Auto-Neige Bombardier Limitée in 1942, at Valcourt in the Eastern Townships, Quebec. Over the years it has been a large manufacturer of regional aircraft, business jets, mass transportation equipment, recreational equipment and a financial services provider. Bombardier is a Fortune Global 500 conglomerate company. Its headquarters are in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Bombardier is the current main sponsor of Derby County FC.
History
Joseph-Armand Bombardier was a mechanic who dreamed of building a vehicle that could "float on snow." In 1937, he designed and produced his first snowmobile in his small repair shop in Valcourt, Quebec.
Bombardier's technological breakthrough in the design of bush vehicles came in the mid-1930s when he developed a drive system that revolutionized travel in snow and swampy conditions. In 1937, Bombardier sold 12 snowmobiles—named the B7 and, in 1942, created l'Auto-Neige Bombardier Limitée company.
The first snowmobiles were large, multi-passenger vehicles designed to help people get around during the long winter months. Snowmobiles were used in rural Quebec to take children to school, carry freight, deliver mail, and as ambulances. His invention filled a very particular need in the region and soon business was booming. In 1941, Armand opened a large new factory in Valcourt. Then a major setback hit the growing business: the Second World War was well underway and the Canadian government issued wartime rationing regulations. Bombardier customers had to prove that snowmobiles were essential to their livelihood in order to buy one. To keep his business going, Armand switched gears and developed vehicles for the military. After the war, Bombardier experienced another setback in his snowmobile business. In 1948, the Quebec government passed a law requiring all highways and local roads to be cleared of snow; the Bombardier company's sales fell by nearly half in one year. Armand Bombardier therefore decided to diversify his business, first by producing tracked snowplows sized specifically for use on municipal sidewalks (replacing horse-drawn devices), then by making all-terrain vehicles for the mining, oil and forestry industries.
Of note, the machines had removable front skis that could be replaced with front wheels for use on paved or hard surfaces, thus providing greater utility to his large snowmobiles. Production of these machines evolved over time. During 1951, the wooden bodies were replaced with sheet steel and these vehicles were powered by Chrysler flathead six-cylinder engines and 3-speed manual transmissions. In the 1960s, V-8 engines began to appear and during the 1969/70 production years, the standard round "porthole"-style windows were replaced with larger rectangular windows which allowed more interior light and made them feel less claustrophobic. Following these changes came the switchover to more reliable Chrysler Industrial 318 engines with the automatic Loadflite transmissions. Production of these machines continued into the mid-1970s.
Bombardier 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 onto the market. Bombardier 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.
The Ski-doo was originally called the "Ski-Dog" because Bombardier meant it to be a practical vehicle to replace the dogsled for hunters and trappers. By an accident, a painter misinterpreted the name and painted "Ski-Doo" on the first prototype. The public soon discovered that speedy vehicles that could zoom over snow were a lot of fun. 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 brand of motosleds. In 1975 Bombardier completed the purchase of the Moto-Ski company.
On February 18, 1964, J. Armand Bombardier died of cancer at age 56. He left behind a thriving business, but also one that had been focused on one person. Armand dominated his company, overseeing all areas of operation. He controlled the small research department, making all the drawings himself. By the time of his death sales of the company had reached C$20 million, which is the equivalent of C$160 million in 2004 dollars. The younger generation took over, led by Armand's sons and sons-in-law. The young team reorganized and decentralized the company, adopting modern business tactics. The company adopted the latest technological innovation—the computer—to handle inventory, accounts and billing. Distribution networks were improved and increased, and an incentive program was developed for sales staff.
In 1967, L'Auto-Neige Bombardier Limitée was renamed Bombardier Limited and on January 23, 1969, the company went public, listing on the Montreal and Toronto stock exchanges.
Aerospace
In 1986 , Bombardier acquired Canadair after the Canadian government-owned aircraft manufacturing company had recorded the largest corporate loss in Canadian business history. Shortly thereafter, de Havilland Canada from Boeing, the bankrupt Short Brothers and Learjet operations were added. The aerospace arm now accounts for over half of the company's revenue. Bombardier's most popular aircraft currently include its Dash 8, CRJ100/200/440, and CRJ700/900/1000 lines of regional airliners. It also manufactures the CL-415 amphibious water-bomber and the Challenger business jet. Learjet continues to operate as a subsidiary of Bombardier and manufactures jets under the Learjet name.
Railway technology
In 1970, Bombardier acquired the Viennese company Lohner-Rotax, a manufacturer of snowmobile engines and tramways, and became involved with rail business. This section started to gain importance in the mid-1990s in the renaissance of tramways or "light-rail transit." Bombardier acquired the assets and designs of American Locomotive Company/Montreal Locomotive Works, which continued in the locomotive business until 1985. In the Canadian market, they also acquired Hawker Siddeley Canada’s Thunder Bay facilities and UTDC (formerly of Kingston).
In 2001, Bombardier acquired Adtranz, the developer of trains which are widely used throughout Britain. Bombardier was one of the companies which took over British Rail's R&D facilities after privatisation (the remainder largely being absorbed into AEA Technology and Alstom).
With the acquisition of ADtranz, Bombardier Transportation emerged as the largest manufacturer of railway rolling stock in the world. Depending on how one defines industrial activities, it is sometimes considered the largest in the world in this category.
Financial Services
Bombardier Capital (BC) was the Bombardier division in charge of financial services. From 1973, when it was based in Colchester, Vermont, it offered financial services such as lending, leasing, and asset-management throughout the Americas. In 2001, BC restricted its loan activity to existing customers. The company, which began transitioning some services to Jacksonville, Florida in 1997, ceased taking on new consumer loans in 2001, focusing instead on loans to retailers and gradually downsizing. In November of 2004, Bombardier's credit evaluation was downgraded by Moody's from "moderate credit risk" (Baa3) to "questionable credit quality" (Ba2), a below investment grade rating which impacted Bombardier Capital, although the company's transportation division was unaffected. In 2005, Bombardier sold the Inventory Finance Division of BC to GE Commercial Finance.
Divestitures
Military
Bombardier was, until recently, a major Canadian defense contractor. With the latest restructuring, the company sold off nearly all of its military-related work in Canada. Military Aviation Services was sold to SPAR Aerospace and land-based defence products made by Urban Transportation Development Corporation ceased operations as Bombardier moved away from non-aviation defence products.
Recreational products
On 27 August 2003 - Bombardier, Inc. announced the sale of its BRP (Recreational Products) unit to the Bombardier family for $875 million.
As part of the deal, BRP retained rights to the sprocket logo, which they subsequently modified. Its snowcats and snowmobiles dated back to the origins of the company; current brands are Ski-Doo and Lynx. Bombardier Recreational Products has also become well known for its Sea-Doo personal watercraft division which also features jet-powered sport boats. Bombardier also makes ATVs (all terrain vehicles). In 2006, the Bombardier ATV was rebranded as Can-Am. Can-Am is the old name of the line of dirtbikes it produced in the 1980s which used high-tech engines featuring RAVE (Rotax Automatic Variable Exhaust) valving to create peak horsepower at a wider range of RPMs. The bikes were shelved but technology tweaks re-emerged in the Company's Ski-Doo snowmobiles (beginning with the 1989 model year Ski-Doo Mach 1). Many of today's snowmobiles produced by the Company feature proprietary engineering by BRPs Rotax brand engine production plant located in Austria. BRP's Can-Am product is among the high tech recreational vehicles which specifically include the Can-Am Spyder, a three-wheel roadster with a rear-drive wheel and featuring a vehicle stability system (VSS), anti-lock braking system (ABS) and other safety and electronic vehicle control enhancements as certified by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).
Bombardier Museum
The Bombardier Museum is a large modern museum in Valcourt, Quebec dedicated to the life of Joseph-Armand Bombardier and the snowmobile as well as the industry he helped create. Formally opened in 1971, with substantial renovations in 1990, the museum is professionally curated and features a wide array of Ski-Doos and other industrial designs as well as a selection of related books, booklets and other items of interest to enthusiasts.
Also of note at the museum is the original Bombardier garage "factory" that was the genesis of the organization bearing the name. The garage was carefully removed from its original location in Valcourt and moved to its present site at the museum, which is located blocks away from the huge, present-day Bombardier Recreational Products factory.
Bibliography
- Descarries, Eric. "Autoneiges Bombardier: Des patenteux perpétuent la tradition." La Presse, 13 March 2006.
- Hadekel, Peter. Silent Partners: Taxpayers and the Bankrolling of Bombardier. Toronto: Key Porter Books Limited, 2004. ISBN 1-55263-626-7.
- MacDonald, Larry.The Bombardier Story: Planes, Trains and Snowmobiles. Toronto: J. Wiley & Sons, 2001. ISBN 0-470-83196-0.
See also
External links
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