Bombardier Recreational Products Inc. (BRP) dedicates its new design and innovation centre to its Chairman

"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 centres, the 5,000 square meter (± 50,000 square foot) - $15 million - state-of-the-art building located in Valcourt, Québec will house under one roof, BRP's design and advanced concept teams. The team represents a group of approximately 60 talented individuals ranging from transportation designers, product designers, graphic designers, engineers, human factors expert, mechanics, CAD technicians, modellers, moulders, painters, and management people.

"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 centre 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 also commented.

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'', said Boisjoli. ''Our engineers, designers and technicians must continue to invent new paradigm-shifting products so we maintain our leadership in this promising industry; this design centre will give them the proper environment to do so,'' he concluded.
In his speech, Beaudoin said that the: ''look of a vehicle must communicate the experience one will live with it". He also said that: ''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". The Chairman also reaffirmed the board's determination to move forward with current investments to prepare BRP for the future.

Over the years, BRP's talented design team has won numerous international awards and today, continues to be recognized by global design organizations such as the Red Dot in Germany and the International Design Excellence Awards. With the new centre, BRP is maintaining the tradition of reinforcing its economic contribution to the region including attracting talents from different parts of the world.