Polaris Industries Inc., a Minnesota corporation, was formed in 1994 and is
the successor to Polaris Industries Partners LP. We design, engineer and manufacture
Off-Road Vehicles (ORV), including All-Terrain Vehicles (ATV) and side-by-side
vehicles for recreational and utility use, Snowmobiles, Motorcycles and Global
Adjacent Markets vehicles, together with the related Parts, Garments and Accessories
(PG&A). These products are sold through dealers and distributors principally
located in the United States, Canada, Western Europe, Australia and Mexico.
Off-Road Vehicles. Our ORVs include Sportsman® ATVs, Polaris ACE®,
RANGER®, RZR® and Polaris GENERAL™side-by-side vehicles. ATVs
and Polaris ACE are four-wheel vehicles with balloon style tires designed for
off-road use and traversing rough terrain, swamps and marshland. Side-by-side
vehicles are multi-passenger off-road, all-terrain vehicles that can carry up
to six passengers in addition to cargo. ORVs are used for recreation, in such
sports as fishing and hunting and for trail and dune riding, and for utility
purposes on farms, ranches, and construction sites.
ATVs were introduced to the North American market in 1971 by Honda Motor Co.,
Ltd. (“Honda”). Other Japanese motorcycle manufacturers, including
Yamaha Motor Corporation (“Yamaha”), Kawasaki Motors Corp. (“Kawasaki”),
and Suzuki Motor Corporation (“Suzuki”), entered the North American
ATV market in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s. We entered the ATV
market in 1985, Arctic Cat Inc. (“Arctic Cat”) entered in 1995 and
Bombardier Recreational Products Inc. (“BRP”) entered in 1998 with
their Can-Am product line. In addition, numerous Chinese and Taiwanese manufacturers
of youth and small ATVs exist for which limited industry sales data is available.
By 1985, the number of three- and four-wheel ATVs sold in North America had
grown to approximately 650,000 units per year, then dropped dramatically to
a low of 148,000 in 1989.
Snowmobiles. In the early 1950’s, a predecessor to Polaris produced a
“gas powered sled,” which became the forerunner of the Polaris snowmobile.
Snowmobiles have been manufactured under the Polaris name since 1954. Originally
conceived as a utility vehicle for northern, rural environments, over time the
snowmobile gained popularity as a recreational vehicle. From the mid-1950’s
through the late 1960’s, over 100 producers entered the snowmobile market
and snowmobile sales reached a peak of approximately 495,000 units in 1971.
The Polaris product survived the industry decline in which snowmobile sales
fell to a low point of approximately 87,000 units in 1983 and the number of
snowmobile manufacturers serving the North American market declined to four:
Yamaha, BRPs Ski-Doo product line, Arctic Cat and Polaris. These four manufacturers
also sell snowmobiles in certain overseas markets where the climate is conducive
to snowmobile riding.
Motorcycles. Polaris’ Motorcycles segment consists of Victory®, Indian
Motorcycle®, and the moto-roadster, Slingshot®. Heavyweight and mid-size
motorcycles are utilized as a mode of transportation as well as for recreational
purposes. The industry is comprised of four segments: cruisers, touring, sport
bikes and standard motorcycles. We entered the heavyweight motorcycle market
in 1998 with an initial Victory product in the cruiser segment. We entered the
touring segment in 2000. In 2011, we purchased the Indian Motorcycle brand to
complement our Victory brand of motorcycles. In 2013, we re-launched the Indian
brand by releasing the first three Indian Motorcycle models engineered by Polaris.
In 2014, we entered the mid-size motorcycle market with the launch of Scout,
and also introduced the Companys first moto-roadster motorcycle, Slingshot.
The North America heavyweight industry retail cruiser and touring sales more
than doubled from 1996 to 2006; however, the motorcycle industry declined in
2007 through 2010 due to weak overall economic conditions.
Global Adjacent Markets. We introduced our initial Global Adjacent Markets
vehicles with the 2011 acquisitions of Global Electric Motorcars LLC (“GEM”)
and Goupil Industries S.A. (“Goupil”). We expanded our portfolio
in 2013 by acquiring A.M. Holding S.A.S., which operates under the name Aixam
Mega S.A.S. (“Aixam”). Aixam is based in France and manufactures
and sells enclosed on-road quadricycles and light duty commercial vehicles.
Through these acquisitions, we now offer products in the light-duty hauling,
people mover and urban/suburban commuting sub-sectors of the Work and Transportation
industry.
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