Automotive News Canada - January 2023 - 6

6
* JANUARY 2023
Seeing beyond
Sea-Doos
BRP is considering a range of mobility
products, with concept sketches
including single-seat EVs, motorcycles,
scooters and e-bikes.
ILLUSTRATION: BRP
New BRP unit eyes
forms of mobility
that are functional
as well as fun
By DAVID KENNEDY
T ORONTO BUREAU CHIEF
CANADIAN POWERSPORTS
pioneer BRP Inc. is expanding into
mobility, attempting to leverage
its work in electric propulsion to
broaden its product lineup, customer
base and its
bottom line.
The Quebecbased
maker of
Ski-Doos and
Sea-Doos officially
formed a
new Low Voltage
and Human
Assisted group
in September to
explore " untapped
product categories. "
Tran:
Mobility
is " a huge
market today.
There's space
for everyone
to innovate
and do things
differently. "
SUPPLIED
PHOTO
BRP said it's
entering a global
market worth $70
billion a year,
nearly doubling
its addressable market. The powersport,
motorcycle and marine
segments it serves are collectively
worth $85 billion annually, the company
estimates.
Mobility " is a wide word and a
wide industry, " said Minh Thanh
Tran, BRP's executive vice-president
of corporate strategy and the
leader of the new group. The company
plans to rely on innovation to
differentiate itself, he said.
BRP employs about 20,000 people
and has manufacturing operations
in 11 countries. The company would
not disclose how many employees
the new group would have but said
it plans to fill roles in business
strategy, sales, product engineering,
manufacturing and services with
workers from around the globe.
It is too soon to disclose what
types of mobility products BRP
will launch, Tran said, but concept
sketches include single-seat EVs,
motorcycles, scooters, a miniature
flatbed hauler and various incarnations
of e-bikes.
BRP's market is likely to grow,
but that might put it in competition
with mobility industry incumbents
such as Beijing-based Ninebot and
California-based Pedego Electric
Bikes, as well as traditional automotive
players exploring similar
expansion plans.
BRP's early explorations into
the new market, which covers
the movement of both people and
goods, began about five years ago.
The company scoured Asia, Europe
and North America to determine
what was available for
e-bikes, scooters and
other modes of urban
transportation, Tran
said. The company was
also working on electrifying
its other products,
ranging from snowmobiles and
boats to ATVs and motorcycles.
" We have invested a lot of money
and resources in R&D around electrification, "
Tran said, pointing to a
commitment in March 2021 to spend
$300 million over five years to bring
electric models to market.
ACQUIRING EXPERTISE
The company also announced
three acquisitions in the summer.
Each is expected to feed into BRP's
electrification plans and its move
into nontraditional markets.
" We wanted to have the expertise
for our product line that we have
existing but leveraging those [acquisitions]
to go into mobility and
BRP FACTS
* Headquartered in Valcourt,
Que., east of Montreal
* BRP Inc. was spun off from
aircraft maker Bombardier
Inc. in 2003. BRP was originally
known as Bombardier
Recreational Products.
* The company has traditionally
focused on recreational vehicles
such as snowmobiles, personal
watercraft, ATVs, side-bysides
and three-wheeled motorcycles.
It expanded into the
boating market in the past five
years through a series of acquisitions.
*
BRP defines low voltage as
48 volts or less, which is a
common benchmark for e-bike
batteries.
other markets, " Tran said.
In July, BRP agreed to buy the
Austria subsidiary of China-based
automaker Great Wall Motor Co.,
adding a research centre with about
50 engineers who specialize in
e-drives and electric-transmission
systems.
MOBILITY
SPOTLIGHT
The purchase of a majority stake
in Germany-based Pinion GmbH
was announced on Aug.
5. The 60-person team
builds mechanical gearboxes
for traditional and
electric bicycles, modeling
the precision shifting
systems on automotive
transmission technology.
On Aug. 9, BRP announced
it would buy the Shawinigan,
Que., operations of Kongsberg
Automotive, one of BRP's longtime
suppliers of electronics and mechatronics.
BRP absorbed about 300
employees when the deal closed in
the third quarter.
FUN AND PRACTICAL
BRP has traditionally focused on
vehicles as sources of recreation,
but electrification " opens a lot of
doors " around how the company
can redefine the overlap between
driving for fun and driving to get
from point A to B, Tran said.
" If we can change and improve
how people move, that's definitely
part of our mission, " he said.
BRP's move into mobility
mirrors similar early steps
by automakers such as Toyota,
Volkswagen and General Motors,
which have eased into the market
through a range of concepts and the
occasional saleable product, such
as GM's ill-fated Ariv e-bikes.
Traditional auto parts suppliers
have also jumped on the trend.
Canada's Magna International in
September announced a $77-million
investment in India-based Yulu.
The mobility tech company operates
a fleet of about 10,000 electric
two-wheelers in three cities and
has aggressive plans to expand to
15 cities in the next 18 months.
Tran thinks BRP is well-positioned
to find its niche.
" It's a huge market today, " he
said. " There's space for everyone to
innovate and do things differently.
By us focusing on the low-voltage
[product market] and making sure
that we have innovation at the core
of it, we'll make it a bit different
from the others. " - ANC
TRENDING
STORIES
automotivenews.ca
ONGOING WEB COVERAGE
TheBATTERY BUILDUP
THE LURE OF LITHIUM
Automakers and their suppliers are turning to Canada for lithium,
a mineral critical to electric vehicles. Ontario Minister of Economic
Development Vic Fedeli has hinted that big mining announcements
are coming early this year.
LIGHTER, CHEAPER AUDIO FOR AUTOMAKERS
BLACKBERRY QNX, A SUBSIDIARY OF CANADIAN TECH
giant BlackBerry, is teaming with Swedish audio company Dirac to
lower the cost of and simplify audio-system upgrades for automakers.
BlackBerry QNX will integrate Dirac's Opteo Professional solution
into the QNX Acoustics Management Platform, saying it can
provide automakers an estimated 17.4 per cent cost savings and
six per cent mass savings per audio system. The companies have
begun work on " the first implementation in a high-end electric vehicle
for a leading European manufacturer. "
EXEC RECEIVES CANADA'S HIGHEST HONOUR
FRANTZ SAINTELLEMY, PRESIDENT
of Canadian autonomous-driving technology
company Leddartech, has been
appointed to the Order of Canada.
Saintellemy was cited for his work to
advance both leading-edge electronics
technologies and the country's entrepreneurial
diversity. According to the
Governor General's website, " The Order
of Canada is how our country honours
people who make extraordinary contributions
to the nation. "
Saintellemy
FILE PHOTO
TESLA MAKES DEAL FOR CANADIAN LITHIUM
PIEDMONT LITHIUM INC., WHICH
is co-developing the North American
Lithium mine near Val-d'Or, Que., 500
kilometres northwest of Montreal, said
Jan. 3 it had signed an amended deal
to supply Tesla with 125,000 tonnes
of lithium-rich spodumene concentrate
between the second half of 2023 and
end of 2025.
NextStar Energy Inc. battery factory, a joint venture between
Stellantis and LG Energy Solution, will need suppliers, and the City
of Windsor and Invest WindsorEssex have been pounding the
pavement looking for new companies to funnel parts to the plant,
set to open in 2025.
PHOTO: TESLA
ELECTRIC VW OFFERS 700-KM RANGE
VOLKSWAGEN REDUBBED
the ID Aero as the ID7 and
revealed it with a camouflage
colour scheme at CES in Las
Vegas. The sedan will go on
sale next year in Canada with
what is expected to be VW's
best EV range, about 700 kilometres on a full charge. Pricing has
not been announced.
PHOTO: VOLKSWAGEN
'BRUTIFUL' RAM BEV SHOWS BRAND DIRECTION
STELLANTIS' PICKUP DIVISION UNVEILED ITS ELECTRIC
1500 Revolution BEV Concept pickup Jan. 5 during CES in Las
Vegas. Designers came
up with an aesthetic for
the concept that portrays
both toughness and sexiness,
said Stellantis design
chief Ralph Gilles. He said
designer Mark Trostle combined
the words brutal and
beautiful in calling the concept
" brutiful. " Ram CEO Mike Koval said, " It's a visionary road
map of where we're taking the brand. " - ANC
PHOTO: STELLANTIS
FOR FULL TEXT OF THESE STORIES AND MORE
automotivenews.ca
http://www.automotivenews.ca http://www.automotivenews.ca
Automotive News Canada - January 2023

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Automotive News Canada - January 2023
