MEDINA, MN (January 9, 2017) Polaris Industries Inc. today
announced it will immediately begin winding down its Victory Motorcycles brand
and related operations. Polaris will assist dealers in liquidating existing
inventories while continuing to supply parts for a period of 10 years, along
with providing service and warranty coverage to Victory dealers and owners.
Today’s announcement does not affect any other Polaris business units.
“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
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.”
A Victory Motorcycle
Several factors influenced today’s announcement. Victory
has struggled to establish the market share needed to succeed and be
profitable. The competitive pressures of a challenging motorcycle market have
increased the headwinds for the brand. Given the significant additional
investments required for Victory to launch new global platforms that meet
changing consumer preferences, and considering the strong performance and
growth potential of Indian Motorcycle, the decision to more narrowly focus
Polaris’ energy and investments became quite clear.
“This decision will improve the profitability of Polaris
and our global motorcycle business, and will materially improve our competitive
stance in the industry,” said Scott Wine. “Our focus is on profitable growth,
and in an environment of finite resources, this move allows us to optimize 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 will reduce the appropriate operating cost based
on this decision, while continuing to support the future growth of the ongoing
motorcycle business. Polaris remains committed to maintaining its presence in
the Spirit Lake, Iowa community with Indian Motorcycle production and in the
Huntsville, Alabama community with its Slingshot production.
Any one-time costs associated with supporting Victory
dealers in selling their remaining inventory, the disposal of factory
inventory, tooling, and other physical assets, and the cancellation of various
supplier arrangements will be recorded in the 2017 income statement in
respective sales, gross profit and operation expense. These costs will be
excluded from Polaris’ provided 2017 sales and earnings guidance on a non-GAAP
basis.
Polaris will release its fourth quarter and full-year
2016 financial results and provide 2017 guidance on Tuesday, January 24, 2017. A
webcast and conference call will be held at 9:00 a.m. Central Time on January
24, 2017 to discuss the results.
A slide presentation and link to the webcast will be posted on the Polaris Investor Relations website at ir.polaris.com. To listen to the conference call by phone, dial 877-706-7543 in the U.S. and Canada, or 478-219-0273 internationally. The Conference ID is #45015597.
A slide presentation and link to the webcast will be posted on the Polaris Investor Relations website at ir.polaris.com. To listen to the conference call by phone, dial 877-706-7543 in the U.S. and Canada, or 478-219-0273 internationally. The Conference ID is #45015597.
SOURCE: Polaris Industries