Bombardier Recreational Products Inc. (BRP) dedicated its new Design and Innovation Centre to its Chairman, Laurent Beaudoin, to mark the major role he played in the success of the company over the past 45 years.
“For more than 45 years, Laurent Beaudoin has been a firm believer that innovation is the only way to succeed; we wanted to commemorate a man whose leadership, passion, innovative spirit and dedication have made our company a leader in the powersports industry,” said José Boisjoli, president and chief executive officer.
Recognized as one of Canada’s largest design centers, the 50,000 square foot, $15-million state-of-the-art building located in BRP’s hometown of Valcourt, Québec will house the company’s design and advanced concept teams under one roof. The team represents a group of approximately 60 talented individuals ranging from transportation designers, product designers, graphic designers, engineers, mechanics, CAD technicians and sculptors.
“We have known great successes in the past with the introduction of paradigm-shifting products such as the sit-down Sea-Doo personal watercraft, the REV platform on our Ski-Doo snowmobiles, and more recently, the Can-Am Spyder roadster,” said Denys Lapointe, executive vice-president, design and innovation. “This new center offers a fantastic creative environment. It brings together skilled, committed and passionate people whose talent will be leveraged to work on multiple projects for current and new segments,” he said.
BRP’s innovative products have surprised and conquered the world’s markets for more than 60 years. This new centre, coupled with other recent investments made in the Centre de technologies avancées BRP – Université de Sherbrooke and the Regional Innovation Centre in Austria, demonstrates BRP’s commitment to the world of powersports and the development of new products and more environmentally-friendly technologies.
“Innovation is very much at the heart of our heritage and will continue to be the base upon which our future successes are built,” Boisjoli said. ”Our engineers, designers and technicians must continue to invent new paradigm-shifting products so we maintain our leadership in this promising industry; this design center will give them the proper environment to do so.”
In his speech, Beaudoin said that the ”look of a vehicle must communicate the experience one will live with it.” He also said, ”at first glance, one must know the product will perform. Yet, at the same time, it must tempt one’s emotional curiosity to ride it. That is what design does.”