Polaris Industries Inc. announced an immediate winding down of its
Victory Motorcycles brand and related operations globally. The company
will provide adequate support to dealers in liquidating their existing
inventories and will also continue to supply parts for a period of 10 years. Furthermore the company will provide service
and warranty coverage to both Victory dealers and owners.
Victory motorcycles began production operations in 1998 and was aimed
directly to compete with Harley Davidson. However the company has been in the
red for a few years. Scott Wine, Chairman and CEO, Polaris
Industries, said, “This was an incredibly difficult decision for me, my team
and the Polaris Board of Directors. Over the past 18 years, we have
invested not only resources, but our hearts and souls, into forging the Victory
Motorcycles brand, and we are
exceptionally proud of what our team has accomplished. Since inception, our
teams have designed and produced nearly 60 Victory models that have been
honored with 25 of the industry’s top awards. The experience, knowledge,
infrastructure and capability we’ve built in those 18 years gave us the
confidence to acquire and develop the Indian Motorcycle brand, so I would like
to express my gratitude to everyone associated with Victory Motorcycles and
celebrate your many contributions.”
The company had
over the course of 18 years struggled to establish a market share required to
be profitable. With a challenging motorcycle market and pressure from
competition the company struggled to move ahead. The decision was also made in
light of the performance and growth potential of the Indian Motorcycle brand.
Scott Wine further added that the decision will improve profitability of the
global motorcycle business as well as the competitive stance in the industry.
The move will enable the company to align resources behind the Indian
Motorcycle and Slingshot brands.
The company will appropriately reduce operational costs based on the
decision and continue to support their ongoing motorcycle businesses. In light
of the implications of the decision, a release to the press also stated that
Polaris will continue to maintain their presence in Spirit Lake, Iowa with the
production of India Motorcycles and also in Huntsville, Alabama with the
Slingshot brand.