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LSA Powerplants and Ownership
June 28, 2010

A Rotax 912S is installed on a popular LSA (cowling removed).
Let's have a little quiz. Ready? Four powerplant brands serve the Light-Sport Aircraft industry (well, not including the engine developed by CubCrafters... that's another story). Click to see them all. Most LSA use either Rotax, Continental, Jabiru, or Lycoming, with the popularity of these engines in roughly that order. *** So, here's the quiz: Which one of these engine brands is not majority American owned? Stumped? Most of you probably guessed, "Well, only Continental and Lycoming are U.S.-owed engine companies. Buzz! Wrong. The answer: Only Jabiru remains majority owned by a non-American company. Sold successfully around the world and in the USA through Jabiru USA, this engine manufacturer is owned by Australians. All the others are majority U.S. owned. Yep, even Rotax. *** At a Sebring meeting of the SLSA Council, an EAA group composed of the larger Light-Sport producers, Rotax's Christian Mundigler made a presentation that opened my eyes. Following a Sun 'n Fun 2010 discussion with BRP Powertrain Director of Communications Roland Larouchelle to be sure I had my facts correct, I can confirm Rotax is 50% owned by Bain Capital, headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. Another 35% remains owned by the Canadian Bombardier family, and the last 15% is held by the Caisse Quebec Deposit and Investment Fund, the largest pension fund in Canada. So, the largest share and the majority of Rotax ownership is American but the engines are still manufactured in a sprawling plant in Austria (photo).
Rotax Aircraft Engines are manufactured in part of this large facility in Austria.
*** Some folks still call Bombardier the owner/manufacturer of Rotax engines but that's also wrong. In December 2003, the company was reorganized and today Rotax Aircraft Engines is part of BRP Powertrain, with BRP standing for Bombardier Recreational Products. Besides the much beloved LSA powerplants (which hold an estimated 72% U.S. market share) BRP Powertrain also owns such celebrated brands as Sea-Doo, Ski-Doo/Lynx, Can-Am, and Evinrude/Johnson.