The Canadian company Bombardier Recreational Products (BRP) announced Thursday it will increase its manufacturing capacity with the construction of a new, third plant in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, to meet the demand for its off-road (ORVs) and side-by-side vehicles (SSVs), including the popular Can-Am model.

The planned facility represents an investment of approximately US $136 million and would result in the creation of up to 1,000 permanent jobs. 

The Canadian manufacturer already has two plants in Ciudad Juárez, which opened in 2007, and another in Querétaro, which opened in 2013.  

Construction of the new facilities will begin in the coming months, and the company expects to start operations in the fall of 2021 with around 1,000 employees.

“This new plant, combined with the company’s two off-road manufacturing facilities in Ciudad Juárez, will create positive operational synergies and efficiencies,” BRP said in a statement.

The expansion is intended to help keep pace with the growing demand for Can-Am vehicles recorded in recent years. After a temporary slowdown due to the coronavirus pandemic, retail sales quickly rebounded, with an increase of more than 35% in May compared to 2019, a trend which the company says continued in June.

“Our continued innovation and constant growth in SSVs make this additional capacity necessary to meet our goal of achieving a 30% market share,” said BPR President and CEO José Boisjoli.

The announcement was heralded by Mexico’s Minister of the Economy as the first foreign investment in Mexico since the new United-States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, or USMCA, went into effect on Wednesday. 

The Quebec-based company has 12,600 employees worldwide and has been in business for 75 years. BRP’s product portfolio includes Ski-Doo and Lynx snowmobiles, Sea-Doo jet skis, Can-Am off-road vehicles, motorcycles and recreational aircraft.

Source: El Economista (sp), Tiempo (sp)