MEDINA, Minn. - Polaris Industries, a global producer of motorcycles and off-road vehicles, is pulling the plug on its Iowa-made Victory Motorcycles brand, the company announced today.
The brand launched in 1998 and attempted to compete head-to-head with Harley Davidson. Victory assembles its motorcycles at its plant in Spirit Lake, Iowa. It was not immediately clear how many jobs would be impacted by Victory's elimination.
A spokesperson for Polaris said the company was not providing specific employment numbers for Victory workers here in Minnesota, but did say some job reductions were expected, mostly through cutting the number of temporary workers and through attrition. Polaris will refocus resources and manufacturing capacity in Spirit Lake, Iowa, and Spearfish, S.D., on Indian Motorcycle production. The work force in Osceola, Wis., will continue to manufacture motorcycle engines.
In April 2011, Minnesota-based Polaris acquired Indian Motorcycle, the nation's oldest motorcycle manufacturer, and the new Indian product has been enthusiastically received by both industry types and consumers.
“This was an incredibly difficult decision for me, my team and the Polaris Board of Directors,” Polaris Industries Chairman and CEO Scott Wine said in a news release. “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 1998, Wine said nearly 60 Victory models have been honored with 25 of the industry's top awards. But he said the brand has struggled to maintain the market share "needed to succeed and be profitable."
A company release says sales of the Victory line peaked in 2012, and have steadily decreased in the years since. In 2015 Victory represented only three percent of total Polaris sales in 2015, and sales figures indicated that dealers sold an average of just 20 Victory bikes per year.
Polaris will immediately begin winding down the brand, assisting dealers in liquidating existing inventories. The company will continue to produce parts for the next 10 years and will still provide warranty and service coverage to dealers and customers.
Wine's statement said the company will focus more of its motorcycle efforts on the iconic Indian Motorcycle brand, which he believes has greater potential than Victory.
“This decision will improve the profitability of Polaris and our global motorcycle business, and will materially improve our competitive stance in the industry,” he said. “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."
