I remember this also. There was a lot of speculation that Deere would go to diesel over electric in their large tractors. The most obvious reason being Infininte Speed Transmission and a very simple but strong drive train.
Deere purchased the "recreational" line of Bombardier, a couple of years ago. That's where the JD quads come from. Bombardier sold it because they were in financial trouble. They also make train engines.
I don't know for sure who bought the rec line from Bombardier, but I know it wasn't Deere. They bid, but didn't get it. They did set up a marketing agreement where Bombardier dealers can sell Deere manufactured two and six wheel bed-style ATVs and Deere dealers can sell Bombardier built quads.
In the fall 0f 2003 Bombarbier had a change of ownership(see link below),and a utility division(not sure what this includes, but certainly not the rec. stuff) was sold to a company in Quebec called Camoplast. see this link. www.industrial.camoplast.com_en-CA_About.Us_History.htm The John Deere atv's are still manufactured by Bombardier in Quebec. This is a marketing alliance between the two companies. Deere did not buy any portion of Bombardier.
I heard this from some people a couple years ago. When I saw the green and yellow quads, and heard the news about Bombardies getting $$ from the feds just before I figured it true. My apologies. I did some digging after I read your post and I came up with this. JD and Bombardiers have an alliance. Here's the link.