BRP Finland launches next-gen snowmobiles

The Rovaniemi-based Bombardier Recreational Products (BRP) Finland Oy, a world leader in snowmobile manufacturing, unveiled the 2018 Ski-Doo and 2018 Lynx line-ups of snowmobiles this year as a part of the company’s continual research and innovation programme.

“We are constantly working on research and development for all our brands, as innovation is one of BRP’s core values,” said BRP Corporate Communications, Senior Adviser Valerie Bridger in an email message to the Daily Finland. BRP launches new products every year for each of its products, she added.

BRP officials at Rovaniemi said they have been in operation in more trhan 100 countries across the world through 4,200 dealers.

The 2018 Ski-Doo line of snowmobiles was launched in mid-February. Highlights include several new models built on the award-winning REV Gen4 platform and Rotax 850 E-TEC engine that together have set new benchmarks in the snowmobile industry for easy handling and responsive power.

Launched on March 16, the 2018 Lynx lineup is the 50th model year created by Lynx, introducing the new Radien platform, the next-generation Rotax 850 E-TEC engine, and the ultra-lightweight E-TEC engine-starting system SHOT.

The company unveiled its latest product on September 29 expanding the range of Rotax internal combustion engines to electric powerpacks. BRP’s new RotaxTHUNDeRpowerpacks offer the consumers all the advantages of electrification, including lower greenhouse gas and noise emissions, with the same performance and ease-of-use that have become the hallmarks of the Rotax brand, said a BRP press release.

The Rovaniemi Snowmobile factory, started in 1978, was taken over by Canadian Bombardier Inc in 1993. After the acquisition by a Canadian-American investment group in 2003, Canadian Bombardier Inc was renamed Bombardier Recreational Products (BRP).

Lynx snowmobile production began in the late 1960s at Ostrobothnia and moved to Rovaniemi in the 1970s, when a part of the production of Velsa Oy was also transferred from the Town of Kurikka to Rovaniemi.

BPR also assembles some all-terrain models of Ski-Doo snowmobiles and Can-Am ATVs.

Over the years, BRP Finland Oy has made a significant impact on the economy of Rovaniemi.