Sea-Doo to focus on green machines

The virus brought BRP Inc. an unexpected windfall, with throngs of first-time customers riding out the pandemic on SeaDoos, snowmobiles and all-terrain vehicles.

It’s betting that greener machines can help sustain the growth.

The Canadian powersports manufacturer plans to introduce a broad lineup of electricpowered products within the next three years, CEO Jose Boisjoli said in a video interview with Bloomberg. The move is critical to expanding the company’s appeal to climate-conscious consumers.

“It’s not a question of if electrification will happen in powersports, it’s a question of when,” Boisjoli said. “Since COVID-19, we’re having the question a lot.”

BRP’s U.S. shares closed Thursday 33 per cent higher than a year ago and 389 per cent above their pandemic low in March. Replenishing depleted inventories will lift industry revenue for a while, but analysts wonder what will happen to demand when the pandemic is over, economies reopen and other recreational opportunities are available.

In several surveys last year, BRP found that about onethird of its buyers were new to the industry. The number is usually 20 per cent, Boisjoli said.

“We have a surge of new customers that we never dreamed of,” he said. “We see that as an opportunity, as a positive thing. And right now we are focusing a lot to talk to new customers to make sure we make them lifetime customers.”

The electric vehicle strategy is aimed at appealing to a demographic that’s outside of BRP’s traditional base — city-dwellers. When presenting prototypes in 2019, the company included two electric models of two-wheelers, targeting urban residents.

Electric vehicles accounted for 30 per cent of two-wheeler sales in the world in 2019, a share that’s set to grow to 77 per cent in 2040, according to research by BloombergNEF.