After a laborious start of production, the manufacturer of snowmobiles and electric watercraft Taïga Motors now regularly produces 50 units per week, says the CEO of the Montreal company.
“We had supply, process and other problems that come with the start of production, but they are resolved now,” says Samuel Bruneau, co-founder and president of Taïga.
Taïga also announced that the 1000th machine was produced on November 7 on its assembly line in the LaSalle district. This is the 867th machine assembled in 2023 (133 were assembled in 2022).
This is an Orca watercraft, one of the last produced this season. Taïga will soon pivot to the production of its Nomad snowmobiles and will begin delivering them in December.
Launching the factory, in 2022, did not happen without growing pains, which lasted several months this year: after having predicted a production of between 2500 and 3500 units for 2023, Taïga lowered this objective twice, which is now to have produced “more than 1,000” machines in 2023 “about half and half snowmobiles and personal watercraft,” says Mr. Bruneau.
Mr. Bruneau did not wish to specify this figure, but at the current rate, taking into account the seven weeks remaining before the holidays, total 2023 production should be around 1,200 machines.
The coming months could allow Taïga to increase its revenues through the sale of battery packs to third parties, says Mr. Bruneau. “We produce our own battery packs here at the factory, and we talk with several off-road and electric boat manufacturers. This is a big opportunity for us: it would be additional revenue and the economies of scale would allow us to reduce certain costs, such as parts. »
Taïga Motors shares closed at 1.07, down two cents, or 1.8%, on Wednesday on the Toronto Stock Exchange.
