Quebec-based BRP, manufacturer of the Ski-Doo, takes on Minnesota-based Polaris, maker of the boutique Indian Motorcycle brand.

The market for powersports has boomed during the pandemic, resulting in stock-market gains for sector leaders BRP Inc. (DOO-T) and Polaris Inc. (PII-NYSE). The question is whether the firms can maintain that momentum postpandemic, when recreational activities curtailed by COVID-19 are reopened. BRP (Bombardier Recreational Products) and Polaris, archrivals for about half a century, appear so similar in size, product lineup and global market presence that it’s not easy for investors to distinguish between them. Actually, there are two major differences. BRP is far and away the more profitable of the longtime rivals. And it is a “pure play” in powersports. In its focus on a new market of climate-conscious buyers, the firm is developing all-electric alternatives to its entire product line of Ski-Doos, Sea-Doos and all-terrain vehicles (ATVs), the first of them in showrooms by early next year. BRP is aiming at another new demographic with all-electric mopeds and scooters for urban dwellers. And BRP is tweaking its three-wheel ATVs to appeal more to women, in an outdoor powersport sector long dominated by a male clientele. In 2020, women accounted for a record one-third of BRP’s sales of ATVs, which are easier to drive and more stable than motorcycles. The focused strategy has paid off in a more than sevenfold increase in BRP’s profits in five years, to last year’s $371 million, and a quadrupling in BRP shares in that time, to a current $90.