This has been a big story on the local news today since Polaris is a local company here in MN.

Polaris announced today that they plan to close their Osceola, WI plant and move the operations to Mexico. Polaris is the town's largest employer so this will have a huge impact on the community. As part of my job for a local delivery service in the Twin Cities, I have actually been to this plant many times, as well as their corporate headquarters in Medina, MN.

Polaris To Close Osceola, Wis. Plant - wcco.com

 

Imagine that, another big company starting to move out of the US. And the government can't figure out why the economy is in the crapper-duh! Pretty bad when a company sets up in a small town, employs a bunch of hardworking folks, and then pulls the rug out from under them to save a buck.

 

Wow!! Bummer to hear that news. Polaris screwed up royally in my book. I first looked into Polaris ATVs due to the fact they were made in the U.S.A. If there was one thing Polaris could have done to get rid of me as a loyal customer, this move to mexico is it.
I will not purchase any product from Polaris. This is ultimate insult to the American people that made your company what it is today. Time to researching other brands. Polaris Industries.... Hope you are reading this, You just lost my business permanently.

To all of the hard working Americans at that Polaris plant....I'm truly sorry to hear of another company maximizing profits at your expense. You are in my prayers.

P.S. Anyone who thinks Polaris has some quality control issues now.....Wait till the mexico junk hits the showrooms.

 

I really don't see the logic in this from Polaris, I can only assume the cost of a new facility will outweigh the benefit of a move.

In addition I find it odd that they are moving to mexico after Yamaha announced it was moving the ATV division to the states.

I've been an overall happy Polaris customer but this move will most likely hurt it's business more.

 

Have you ever tried employing anyone? With workmans comp, family leave act, and soon to come mandatory insurance it is pretty difficult to pay a decent wage. Add to that lawsuits and the tax the rich attitude of Americans it is almost impossible. I am not justifying their move but in these times it is a matter of survival for some companies. Saying that I hate to see the US lose any production. We have lost plenty in our area.
Tony T

 

Well, if i ever decide to get something different than my 850, it wont be a polaris again. granted technically the money will ultimately come back to america since polaris is an american company, but they will have even worse QC issues.

i thought i read somewhere that Yamaha was moving its production to America for its atv's in 2013 or something....interesting.

 

Not cool

 

Is the Wisconsin plant where they make their quads? If so, I probably won't buy another PoPo unless it's used or present dealer stock. Mixed emotions. Business in this country is taking a beating from the high costs imposed by local, state, and federal government. Labor is very expensive. An employer pays roughly twice what the salary of the employee is in health care, social security tax, and other benefits. That's been my experience at least and why I eventually went to working on my own and contracting help on carpentry projects. I just was not making enough money as a businessman if I out and out hired someone as an employee. Not sure how it works for corporations, but between state and federal taxes I was paying almost half of my profits. And, it's not going to get better by the looks of things. On the employee side of things this rots bigtime. If I were to judge by my X2 the people at the plant took pride in their work and would stand toe to toe with any other manufacturer as far as loyalty to their company. I applaud Yamaha and other Japanese companies who are or who have moved their plants here. I would rather have a Japanese quad made by Americans than an American quad made outside of the country. On a side note, I was surprised to see that my son's CanAm Renegade's country of origin was, you guessed it, Mexico. I don't know if we would have bought it if we had known this ahead of time. Mexico has done very little to keep the crime in their country from spilling over to this country. They actually printed brochures on how to collect welfare, etc. when they got into this country illegally.

 

I'm done with Polaris as well if that is what they choose to do! Sorry Polaris, count me out......I wonder what will happen with the Roseau plant in MN? Their water tower has the Polaris logo on it LOL.....

 

And yet Yamaha moves it's full ATV operation to the USA!
Yamaha transferring all ATV production to United States