Bombardier Snowmobile Production For 1971? You Won’t Believe The Numbers!

So, if you had to guess, off the top of your head, how many new snowmobiles do you think the Bombardier Corporation produced for model year 1971? Do your best to avoid looking ahead or peeking at the attached chart before you take your guess, and let us give you a few hints before you throw out a number:

• First, remember that, at the time, Bombardier produced snowmobiles for its Ski-Doo brand as well as the relatively recently acquired Moto-Ski brand.
• This was an era when snowmobile production was at its peak, before the first big fallout from overproduction and the first energy crisis of the 1970s.
• Ski-Doo was, at the time, the No. 1 brand with a bullet, and Moto-Ski was a solid No. 3.
• That said, there were more than 100 brands of snowmobiles being produced at the time.

OK, enough dancing around, let’s get to the facts …

According to a chart in May 1972 issue of Snow Goer Trade, (the insiders magazine at the time that went to dealers, manufacturers officials, aftermarket companies and others who worked in the snowmobile industry) the Bombardier Corporation produced 262,500 snowmobiles for the 1971 season. That’s right, a cool quarter-million.

And remember, that’s one company (and two brands) in a time when it seemed like every little company that could source engines was finding a way to build chassis and create snowmobile brands. And to lend more perspective, the entire worldwide snowmobile market for 2012 was 129,087.

Aside from Bombardier’s incredible production numbers and commitment, there’s a lot of interesting information in the chart, including production numbers for brands like Sno Jet, Rupp, Chaparral and AMK’s Ski-Daddler and Harley-Davidson brands.

So here they are, the numbers reported in Snow Goer Trade in 1972, as compiled by a financial analyst who studied public company records for some of the largest snowmobile producing companies. If you have trouble reading the chart, or if ads or other stories are partially covering it due to your browser settings, simply click on the chart and it will enlarge on your screen like a photo.