However, he quit and sold his shares in 1966 after a disagreement with other family members. Germain Bombardier, who had been groomed by his father, took over the company upon his father's death in 1964. That year, a survey was mailed to Ski-Doo owners to find out how the product was being used. Distribution networks were improved and increased, and an incentive program was developed for sales staff. The company adopted computer inventory, accounting, and billing. The younger generation took over, led by Armand's sons and sons-in-law, reorganizing and decentralizing the company. Until then, he oversaw all areas of operation and controlled the research department, making all the drawings himself.
Armand Bombardier died of cancer at age 56. In 1963, Roski was created in Roxton Falls, Quebec as a manufacturer of composite parts for the Ski-Doo. Bombardier slowed promotion of the Ski-Doo line to prevent it from crowding out other company products, while still dominating the snowmobile industry against competitors Polaris Industries and Arctic Cat. In the first year, Bombardier sold 225 Ski-Doos four years later, 8,210 were sold. The public soon discovered the great fun of speedy vehicles zooming over snow, and a new winter sport was born, centered in Quebec. However, in 1958, " Ski-Doo" was accidentally painted on the first prototype, and immediately became the popular name. The vehicle was called the "Ski-Dog" because it was meant to replace the dog sled for hunters and trappers. A breakthrough occurred in 1957 when Bombardier developed a one-piece molded rubber continuous track with enough durability to provide snow-gripping traction for lightweight vehicles. In the early 1950s, Bombardier focused on developing a snowmobile for 1 or 2 passengers.
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In 1951, the wooden bodies were replaced with sheet steel, and these vehicles were powered by Chrysler flathead six-cylinder engines and 3-speed manual transmissions. The machines had removable front skis that could be replaced with front wheels for use on paved or hard surfaces, thus providing greater utility to his large snowmobiles. Armand Bombardier therefore decided to diversify his business, first by producing tracked snowplows sized specifically for use on municipal sidewalks, replacing horse-drawn vehicles, then by making all-terrain vehicles for the mining, petroleum, and forestry industries. In 1948, the Government of Quebec passed a law requiring all roads to be cleared of snow Bombardier's sales fell by nearly half in one year. In 1947, during a blizzard in Saskatchewan, the company received positive press coverage when army snowmobiles resupplied isolated radio communication towers. The company then shifted its focus to the arms industry. Bombardier customers had to prove that snowmobiles were essential to their livelihood in order to buy one. ĭuring World War II, the Government of Canada issued wartime rationing regulations. In 1942, L'Auto-Neige Bombardier Limitée ("Bombardier Snow Car Limited") was founded in Valcourt. In 1941, Bombardier opened a factory in Valcourt. They were used in rural Quebec to take children to school, carry freight, deliver mail, and as ambulances. In 1937, he patented and sold 12 of the 7-passenger "B7" snow coaches. In 1935, in a repair shop in Valcourt, Quebec, he designed and produced the first snowmobile using a drive system he developed that revolutionized travel in snow and swampy conditions. īombardier was a mechanic who dreamed of building a vehicle that could "float on snow". In January 1934, a blizzard prevented Joseph-Armand Bombardier from reaching the nearest hospital in time to save his two-year-old son, Yvon, who died from appendicitis complicated by peritonitis. Main article: Bombardier Recreational Products
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