Who Makes Can-Am Engines?

Can-Am is one of the biggest names in the Powersports industry, with the pricey and incredibly fun Maverick R side-by-side, the three-wheeled Can-Am Spyder and Riker, and a variety of other ATVs, motorcycles, and SxS vehicles with both internal combustion and electric powertrains. While the Can-Am name may be an extremely familiar one among off-road enthusiasts and SxS buyers, you might be wondering more about the engines that power these vehicles and who makes them.

Can-Am, with its lineup of both on and off-road powersports vehicles, is a subsidiary brand of Canada's Bombardier Recreational Products (BRP), which also owns the Austrian engine company Rotax. BRP-Rotax supplies light engines for a number of different BRP subsidiaries, including Can-Am, Sea-Doo watercraft, Ski-Doo snowmobiles, and a variety of sports aircraft. That's right, the engines in Cam-Am's ATVs, bikes, and UTVs share DNA with the high-performance engines used by over 250 aircraft manufacturers across the world. Let's have a closer look to see exactly how Can-Am and Rotax fit in under the greater BRP corporate umbrella.

The Can-Am brand first started selling motorcycles in 1973 with the Can-AM MX motocross bike, but the history of Bombardier Recreational Products and Rotax goes back further than that. Rotax was originally founded in Germany in 1920 and was acquired by BRP in 1970. BRP, as it's know today, was initially part of the Canadian Industrial giant Bombardier, which is now known worldwide for building both jet-powered commercial and business aircraft as well as rail transport vehicles.

Though snowmobiles were what originally put Bombardier on the map, in 2003, the company sold off its recreational products division, including Sea-Doo, Ski-Doo, Can-Am, and Rotax, with BRP being established as a new, independent company. Today, Rotax is the beating heart of BRP, with its engines being used to power on-road, off-road, and water-going vehicles across the BRP family.

As you'd expect, the Rotax engine lineup includes a wide variety of powerplants aimed at everyone from entry-level hobbyists to serious aviators and seasoned off-road racers. Among Rotax's most powerful engines are the turbocharged 999T unit from the Can-Am Maverick and the 325-horsepower Rotax 1630 ACE 325, which currently gives the title of 'World's most Powerful Personal Watercraft' to the Sea-Doo's top-end models.

Beyond the traditional internal combustion engines used across BRP's brands, Rotax has also ventured into the electric motor space in recent years. In 2021, BRP announced that it planned to add electric models in each of its product lines by 2026. Though there was a long period where Can-Am didn't produce traditional two-wheeled motorcycles, Rotax's move into the electric space has allowed Can-Am to get back to its two-wheeled roots with a pair of all-new electric motorcycles, the Can-Am Pulse and Can-Am Origin, with more electric-powered bikes to follow.

Can-Am has also introduced a first-of-its-kind all-electric ATV called the Outlander EV. The Outlander EV uses the same Rotax electric motor setup from Can-Am's electric motorcycles, pushing out 47 horsepower and 53 pound-feet of torque, and its silent operation has the potential to be an interesting benefit for hunters or others who want some tranquility during their outdoor exploration. Time will tell whether Rotax and Can-Am's pivot to electric powertrains will pay off, but for the time being, don't expect their proven gasoline engines to go away anytime soon.