2017 – Montreal – Sea Doo
Image by Stand by Ukraine
A Sea.Doo speed boat raced by the Maasdam on the St Lawerence River. Maybe they planned to reach Quebec City before us?
And that is it for Montreal. The Maasdam is on an overnight run to Quebec City.
This Sea-Doo could become a collectors item as they are no longer manufactured.
Globe & Mail
14 Sept 2012 by Sophie Cousineau
beta.theglobeandmail.com/authors/sophie-cousineau
Sea Doo Exits Sport Boat Business
Parent company BRP decides to cancel production of its jet boat line.
The U.S. recession is still making waves at Bombardier Recreational Products Inc. The Quebec manufacturer will exit the sport boat business and shut down its plant in Illinois, eliminating 350 jobs.
"This is a difficult but necessary decision for BRP," José Boisjoli, president and CEO of the Valcourt-based company, said in a statement.
The company invented the snowmobile and made a killing with its Sea-Doo watercraft. It started producing sport boats 18 years ago. But sales of the jet-driven boats, often used to water ski, never bounced back after the recession as cautious American consumers continue to put off non-essential spending.
BRP tried to sell the plant in Benton, Ill., that it inherited through its 1995 acquisition of Celebrity. It couldn’t find a buyer.
The sport boat business represents 3 per cent of the company’s sales, said Pierre Pichette, BRP’s public affairs vice-president. The company stopped disclosing its revenue after the Bombardier Inc. unit was bought out in 2003 by a consortium led by U.S. private equity fund Bain Capital. Bain partnered with the family of Laurent Beaudoin, who transformed Bombardier into a transportation multinational, and the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, Quebec’s biggest pension fund manager.
Yes, as unlikely as it may sound, that’s what BRP announced this morning, less than two weeks from its 2013 dealer meeting. The reason? BRP’s blaming it on the “continued global sales decline in the marine industry, particularly the drop in sales of sport boats since the financial crisis.”
This is a difficult but necessary decision for BRP,” explained José Boisjoli, president and CEO. “We worked hard to grow our sport boat business through a serious sales decline that began in 2007. But now, we must focus our research and development resources and capital investments in areas of our business that offer greater growth potential.”
