Canadian Powersport Manufacturer Expands Operations At Two Plants In Mexico

BRP Inc. recently expanded the capacity at two of its production facilities in Mexico, where it builds its powersport and personal watercraft vehicles.

The Quebec-based company's increased production comes at a time when the market for recreational powersport and water-sport vehicles is estimated to grow from $11 billion in 2018 to $14.5 billion by 2025, according to a report from Global Market Insights Inc. 

"These capacity increases were necessary to support our product introductions, as well as the strong response of the consumer demand," said Elaine Arsenault, a spokeswoman for BRP.

The company has two production facilities in Ciudad Juarez, known as Juarez 1 and Juarez 2, on the Texas-Mexico border, near El Paso. The company also has a production facility in the city of Santiago de Querétaro in central Mexico.

"At our Juárez 2 facility, we already increased our capacity by 30 percent last year and by 50 percent in the first half of this year," Arsenault said. "So in two years, we almost doubled our capacity of production at this factory." 

At Juarez 2, the company produces its Can-Am side-by-side (SSV) vehicles, a small all-terrain vehicle with four-wheel drive for two to six people. It also manufactures related components and produces SSV accessories, such as bumpers, racks and brackets. 

At Juarez 1, BRP manufactures its Can-Am Commander SSVs. Arsenault added that BRP also recently expanded manufacturing capabilities at its Querétaro plant, where it builds rotax engines and Sea-Doo personal watercrafts.

"This year, we also increased capacity by approximately 20 percent at our Querétaro facility for personal watercraft," Arsenault said. 

Along with its three manufacturing facilities in Mexico, BRP manufactures its products at eight other facilities: one in Canada; one in Austria; five in the United States; and one in Finland. BRP has a manufacturing and supply chain strategy of partially assembling some of its engines, SSVs and personal watercraft at one facility, then shipping them to another facility to be completed. 

Since 2016, the facility in Querétaro has assembled the complete personal watercraft Sea-Doo line and the Sea-Doo engines, which are partially manufactured at the Gunskirchen (Austria) facility.

BRP sells its products in over 100 countries. In 2017, BRP opened its North American headquarters in Dallas, to be closer and better connected to the Texas market, the largest for BRP. The United States accounts for more than 50 percent of BRP's sales of its recreational vehicles.

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