The Bombardier Story: From Snowmobiles to Global Transportation Powerhouse

When Joseph-Armand Bombardier introduced his Ski-Doo snowmobile in 1959, little did he know that his company would become a manufacturing powerhouse in the global transportation industry—as of 2013, Bombardier Inc. was number one in railway equipment and number three in civil aircraft. Bombardier is the world's only manufacturer of both planes and trains. Today, Bombardier products are everywhere. Millions of people travel daily on Bombardier subway cars, automated metros, and commuter trains that run around the world in cities such as New York City, Toronto, Chicago, Vancouver, Mexico City, and Kuala Lumpur. Hundreds of thousands travel to vacation and business destinations each year aboard Bombardier's intercity trains such as the Acela (a high-speed passenger service on Amtrak's Boston-Washington corridor), and on Bombardier's regional jets. Thousands of busy executives fly every day in Learjet, Challenger, and Global Express business jets made by Bombardier. And hundreds of thousands enjoy their leisure hours at play on Ski-Doo snowmobiles and Sea-Doo watercraft, manufactured since 2003 by BRP, an independent company which is co-owned by the Bombardier family.

Acknowledgments ix A Brief History of Bombardier Inc. xi Preface xix Introduction: The Rise of a Corporation 1 A Meteoric Rise 1 The Architects of Success 6 Bombardier Today 8 PART ONE 13 Chapter 1: Joseph–Armand Starts a Company: The 1940s and 1950s 15 Humble Beginnings 15 The Bombardier Snowmobile 16 Inventions and Innovations 25 Chapter 2: The Ski–Doo Adventure: The Golden Age of the 1960s 34 The Family Takes Over 34 A Marketing Renewal 39 Ski–Doo Fever 42 Vertical Integration 46 The First Sea–Doo 49 PART TWO 53 Chapter 3: Diversify or Die: The 1970s 55 A Challenging Decade 55 Taking a New Turn: Rail Transportation 59 The Montreal Subway 61 The Acquisition of MLW–Worthington 67 Chapter 4: The Deal of the Century: The New York City Subway (1982) 73 A Golden Opportunity 73 A Contested Victory 78 The Tools for Success 84 The Royer Way of Doing Things 86 The BMS 91 A Major Breakthrough 97 Tempest in a Teapot 101 The Value of Proven Technologies 104 A Welcome Boost 107 Chapter 5: New Frontiers: Transportation in the 1980s and 1990s 110 The North American Market 110 Full Speed Ahead 112 A Rocky Start for the LRC 114 The Vagaries of High–Speed in America 117 The Disney Monorail 124 The Acquisition of UTDC 125 Capturing the European Market 129 The Chunnel Odyssey 133 Taking Over by Storm: From Talbot to Adtranz 137 PART THREE 143 Chapter 6: Aerospace Takes Off 145 A Bold Move 145 Early Attempts to Diversify: The Automotive Sector 149 The Acquisition of Canadair (1986) 151 Good Things Come in Threes: Shorts, Learjet, and de Havilland 156 Portrait of a Turnaround Artist 165 Power in Numbers: Synergizing Operations 171 Chapter 7: Revolution in the Sky: The Move Toward Regional Jets 176 The Rise of Airline Hubs 176 From Challenger to CRJ 179 A New Captain Steers Aerospace Group 186 Bombardier Takes Off 192 Dogfight in the Clouds 196 Inside the Pro–ex Saga 201 An Affair of State 205 Government Support 208 Chapter 8: Spreading Its Wings 216 The Global Express Business Jet (1991–1996) 216 Diversification Delivers 225 PART FOUR 229 Chapter 9: Two Turbulent Decades at Valcourt 231 The Ski–Doo Loses Speed 231 Pierre Beaudoin and the Return of the Sea–Doo (1988) 233 Extreme Snowmobiling and Innovation 238 Acquisition of Outboard Marine Corporation (2001) 241 Chapter 10: Lessons in Strategic Governance 244 The Éminence Grise 244 Decentralization 248 Management Tools 253 An Evolving Structure 256 Chapter 11: Handing Over the Reins 259 Robert Brown Takes Charge 259 The Impact of September 2001 264 Tellier Joins Bombardier 265 An Unexpected Comeback 270 Pierre Takes the Helm and CSeries Aircraft Takes Off 273 Laurent Beaudoin’s Legacy 276 Endnotes 279 Index 293

Larry MacDonald is a business journalist who writes for The Globe and Mail , Canadian Business , MoneySense and other publications. He is also the author of two other books, Outperforming the Market (ECW Press, 1998) and Nortel Networks (John Wiley & Sons, 2000).