CW ,

How did this become your thesis ?

The marketing of Polaris ATV's has been reasonably successfull . The competetion in the ATV market place is no place for a second rate company , we see American and Import manufactureres fail quite often . ( I am not going to name brands --- it tends to rustle feathers)

Polaris is #4 in vehicles produced in the USA , right behind our top 3 auto makers . Polaris is well diversified into many manufacturing markets , with the ATV market being their best sales arena at this point in time .

The marketing of Polaris ATV's has been well done . Dealerships were granted at a low cost to get the product to the public . Polaris sales numbers grew to rival that of Honda , a feat that is not easy to do .

Polaris has managed to lead the way with the ever popular belt drive transmission and the independant rear suspension , however the competition is also producing models with the same features . Though Polaris was the first with the belt drive , this does not mean other companies can't do it better . First is first ------ Best is best . Polaris's firsts don't mean a whole lot for someone buying a new machine , consumers buy what is the best as far as they can tell - unless of course we are talking Harley - Davidson , they have achieved icon status and will sell well for as long as I can see due to the *coolness* they have managed to attach to their product ---- A great lesson in marketing -The Harley Davidson marketing teams gets an A+ .

Polaris will never be another Harley Davidson on a marketing aspect .

I would suggest you do your thesis on Harley Davidson marketing , the folks at HD have done a fantastic job of getting their product to the status it is at .

Rick Ritter

 

Thanks to everyone for the great input so far. I'm already thinking of a few additional questions that I'll post soon. The first one is...How did you first learn about/become interested in Polaris ATVs? And what shaped your opinions? Magazine articles? The engineering/innovative features? Seeing others ride them?

To answer Rick's question, my professor selected the ATV industry (I don't know why but I'm sure I'll find out) and allowed us to pick a brand. Being in CA, most others chose one of the Japanese brands. I chose Polaris because it seems to be one of the only American ATVs and is less well known out here.

Thanks again. I look forward to more.

 

Actually, a predator motor is built in japan by fugi..

 

Just had to know that some knucklehead would come on here with that......

 

i mean that Polaris IN GENERAL are made in the USA, not Japan.

 

Does the fact that it's American made (mostly, I guess) make a difference? I know there are lots of people who will only buy american cars. Is it the same with ATVs?

 

Definately! As a Union carpenter (Local 1532) "American Made" is everything we stand for. The fact that Polaris is a U.S. based company was one of the largest contributing factors to the purchase of my SP700 & 700EFI. It's too bad that there is so much imported merchandise on the shelves, usually much cheaper both in cost and quality, that consumers have to choose from. Because it supports our economy, I will go out of my way to buy American but in the case of my Polaris, the quality, craftsmanship and reputation of a well built machine came with it. I'll get off my soapbox now.
Gordy

 

American made was definitely a big factor, but not the only one. And if I thought they were a big pile of dung, then being american made would not have been enough to make me buy one. In my opinion, Polaris has successfully leveraged themselves by building a very tough, durable, utility ATV. Also, by being the first to offer an automatic transmission on an ATV was a good shot in the arm (not to mention all the other firsts that you have seen). And actually, I think they gained their popularity through their product and not do to direct marketing effort. I think their commercials / advertisements are weak and don't do much to promote their product. I think they could increase market share by utilitzing more effective commercials (tv spots, magazines, etc). Most people I know that buy Polaris ATVs, are buying it because of their stats (ground clearance, toughness, towing capacity, quality tires, stainless steel braided brake lines, etc). They have a reputation, and that is what is selling them... not the commercials that Polaris makes. Polaris has really built a niche in the utility ATV market and I think it would take a lot to foul that up (not to say they couldn't ruin it, but they really have a strong following). I almost compare it to SeaDoo in the watercraft world. SeaDoo makes great skis, and since they are everywhere and have now become a household name, most people who go to buy a watercraft will probably go buy a Seadoo because they seem them everywhere. Well, I think with Polaris, in the utility segment, they kind of 'own' the market like Seadoo. It may depend somewhat where you live (geographically), but I see more Polaris utility ATVs then any other... by far. And, I am seeing more new ones than old ones. Something tells me they are really on a roll and building a good ATV and more and more people are seeing that.

 

i also think that polaris has the all around best 4+4 drive there is. no dout. i was on a honda 300 coming out of a creek mudd hole rounding a bridge and one tire is on a root and the othere in the mudd. the thing just did't move. the one tire that needed to grab did't!!!... so i go back there on mine and BAM right though it like nothing. just as easy as could be.

 

Polaris is a great company that has made many inovations in the ATV market. As far as purely automatic trany machines, they sell the most. For total ATV sales they are only behind Honda I believe.

Polaris is a US based company that sometimes out-sources to Japan for parts(like most other companies).

I would like to add to this thread that many "Jap" machines are also built here in the US. Especially the Hondas.

The only Polaris Engines that are made in the US are the Sportsman 700 and 600 twin engines. All of the other Polaris engines are build by Fuji in Japan.

Someone mentioned that Polaris started the snowmobile industry, it was actually Bombardier that invented and marketed snowmobiles first(French-Canadian).

The ATV business is a truly global industry. Polaris has claimed a large stake in the industry and is in position to dominate the US market for some time to come if the recent trends continue.