Ask The Editors: Is The ATV Industry Recovering?
Dear ATVC:
I chose the recreational vehicle industry as the subject for a college economics study and was shocked to discover how hard the industry was hit by the recession. Is there cause to suspect this trend will continue or is there hope on the horizon?
There’s hope on the horizon and we don’t just say that because we work in the ATV industry either- the latest numbers being tallied around the globe indicate that ATV sales are actually up close to 19% compared to this same period last year (September 2011-12).
While this may not sound earth shattering, the fact of the matter is that type of rebounding is unrivaled when compared to similar industries (such as motorcycles and snowmobiles).
A lot of this recovery is attributed to the farming sector and an unwaveringly healthy UTV market.
Arctic Cat has posted net sales as up 12% for the second quarter and Polaris reports sales for the third quarter having jumped up 21 percent to $880 million. That’s a profit increase of 39% over last year!
In short, we’re not trying to be overly optimistic but according to the hard numbers, the ATV industry is making impressive strides in returning to strength. We’re yet a ways off from the $50 million annual sales days that preceded the 2008 recession but we’re climbing back out of the hole- and much quicker than many similar industries to boot.
