Polaris Shuts Down Victory Motorcycle Brand
Polaris Industries has decided to shut down its Victory Motorcycles brand due to poor market results. The formalities for winding down all the operations of Victory Motorcycle will begin immediately so that Polaris can focus on Indian Motorcycles. This announcement came as a surprise because just a couple of weeks before Victory Motorcycles was showcasing its 2017 line-up at Auto Shows.
The official Press Release says that Polaris will immediately start the liquidation process of the existing inventories across its dealer network. To take care of the current owners of Victory Motorcycles, the company guarantees service, parts and warranty coverage for the next ten years.
“This was an incredibly difficult decision for me, my team and the Polaris Board of Directors,” said Polaris Industries Chairman and CEO Scott Wine. “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 honoured 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.”
“This decision will improve the profitability of Polaris and our global motorcycle business, and will materially improve our competitive stance in the industry. Our focus is on profitable growth, and in an environment of finite resources, this move allows us to optimise and align our resources behind both our premium, high performing Indian Motorcycle brand and our innovative Slingshot brand, enhancing our focus on accelerating the success of those brands. Ultimately this decision will propel the industry-leading product innovation that is core to our strategy while fostering long-term growth and increased shareholder value.”
Polaris thinks this is the right decision because after 18 year in existence, the Victory Motorcycles couldn’t claim a large enough market to be profitable. The sales of the company steadily declined after the 2012 peak. Victory Motorcycles has been seeing loss for three of the past five years (2011-15). Polaris still has Indian Motorcycles brand to compete with the Harley-Davidson. Aquired by Polaris in 2011, the Indian Motorcycles has enjoyed good market response in the recent years.
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