Polaris, which owns Victory Motorcycles, is ditching it to focus on the three-wheeled Slingshot and Indian Motorcycles.
Victory Motorcycles Ends Production and Ceases Operations
Victory Motorcycles Ends Production and Ceases Operations – The brand launched in 1998 and attempted to compete head-to-head with Harley Davidson. Polaris Industries, a global producer of motorcycles and off-road vehicles, pulled the plug on its Iowa-made Victory Motorcycles brand, the company announced Monday.
“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.”
Victory Motorcycles are cheaper than Indians, Jackson said. But the Indian brand outsells its sister brand by about 11 times at the Spirit Lake shop, he said.
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.
The Indian Factor – The Minnesota-based company started building Victory Motorcycles in 1997, with the first sales in 1998, in an attempt to capitalize on the success of Harley-Davidson and sell heavier, American-manufactured touring bikes. Since purchasing Indian Motorcycles six years ago, however, Polaris has had another outlet to build big, American baggers and touring bikes—ones that carry an iconic name that is more than a century old.
It’s parent company, Polaris Industries, created the firm following the modern success of Harley-Davidson. Victory’s motorcycles are designed to compete directly with Harley-Davidson and similar American-style motorcycle brands, with V-twin engines and touring, sport-touring, and cruiser configurations. The first Victory, the V92C, was announced in 1997 and began selling in 1998. Victory has been profitable since 2002.
Polaris, a Minnesota company with annual sales in 2012 of $3.2 billion, was one of the earliest manufacturers of snowmobiles. Polaris also manufactures ATVs, side-by-side off-road vehicles, electric vehicles and, until 2004, personal watercraft. Seeking to diversify its product line, and observing the sales enjoyed by Harley-Davidson and similar manufacturers, the company decided to produce a large motorcycle built entirely in the United States.[2]
Victory vehicles follow the traditional American style of a heavier motorcycle that increasingly became associated with the Harley-Davidson brand in economically advanced nations after the Second World War, rather than more modern racing-inspired designs.
In 2010 Polaris engaged in a major expansion of production and marketing of the motorcycle. In 2011 Polaris bought the Indian motorcycle brand.
