Multi-talented

You’re probably familiar with the name Multimatic, and I bet you it’s for several different reasons. That’s because Multimatic is a company who have been involved in almost every aspect of racecar development for the last 28 years. In that time, the Canadian-based outfit has designed and manufactured high volume parts as a supplier, built and optimised numerous chassis as a constructor and raced cars as both a manufacturer and race team.

In each of these guises, Multimatic has won races and championships, developing a comprehensive suite of engineering facilities and innovative technologies along the way.

Originally, however, Multimatic had nothing to do with racing. When the company began its engineering journey in 1984, its primary business was the manufacture of high-volume automotive products for the global road car industry, which is still the case today. It was only when Larry Holt, Multimatic’s now executive vice president, joined did racing come on to the agenda.

‘The better business is to develop your own product with novel technology and then go to the customers and say, “nobody else has this”’ Larry Holt, executive vice president at Multimatic

Competitive advantage

‘In the ’80s, the automotive parts business changed quite radically,’ remembers Holt. ‘Previously, the customer would design everything, and suppliers would bid on that job. Whoever had the best quality for the best price won the job. But that all changed and automotive companies started asking the suppliers if they could engineer the product. That’s when I made my move into the automotive industry to support Multimatic.

‘In the end, the better business is