I know this is not old news but when you visit a town that has it's largest employer move to Mexico it sure is sad to see. What a shame.

 

But it's saving Polaris over $8 million dollars per year in production costs alone.

Maybe that savings will be what saves the other 550 jobs.

Just the thought of buying an Arctic Cat makes me quiver.

I would have really liked to have seen our government give Polaris a "stimulus" package that would have prevented the move to Mexico but I'm sure the money went to providing illegal immigrants benefits instead.

 

CAN-AM did the same thing. I still think they need to pay some pretty hefty import duties for being an American owned product, assembled in another country, and shipped in. I realize there is a substantial savings on labor from having the work done in Mexico, China, Vietnam, or wherever, but products made in those places tend to suffer from a lack of quality. I work in manufacturing, and it is a constant threat to us as well to compete logistically for the right to have a job compared with somebody who will work for less than 1/4 of the wages we earn, someday if things keep going the way they are now, we will see a time that there will be no major manufacturing here in the states.

 

Ya Can-am is also made /assembled in Mexico . I'm jumping ship to Yamaha at least there made/assembled in the U.S.A. Yamaha moves ATV jobs from overseas to Georgia

 

Instead of knee jerk ultimatums, look at the facts: If you are not going to buy a Polaris (100% American owned) what are you going to buy? Can-Am is a Canadian company. Their Rotax Engines are made in Austria. Arctic Cat uses many Suzuki engines in their ATV's and snow machines and they used to be partially owned by Suzuki. Honda, Yamaha, Kawasaki and Suzuki are Japanese and Kymco is Taiwanese. Boycotting the one company that has tried for years to be as U.S. based as possible is not the answer.

If you want to bring manufacturing back to the U.S., you need to vote for political leaders that will bring in a favorable business climate, with a fair tax code and common sense regulations. The current regime is running their election campaign on punishing the succesful and driving up the costs of energy and on shore manufacturing every way possible. Both are a recipe for economic disaster. Polaris and many other U.S. manufacturers are trying to stay alive and bring us affordable products.

 

How can Yamaha move there ATV manufacturing to the U.S. and still make a profit where Polaris has to move there manufacturing out of the U.S.to make a profit . I like the fact that my next machine will be made/assembled by U.S. workers in the U.S.A there making U.S. jobs Polaris is loosing them .

 

Manufacturing in Japan is expensive. Shipping from Japan is expensive. Import tariffs are avoided when final assembly is in the U.S. and usually the local government throws in some incentives. That's why Toyota, Honda and even BMW now final assemble vehicles in the U.S. Final assemble is bringing in parts from all over the world and putting them together.

Ford, Chevy and Dodge do the same thing on their assembly lines both here and abroad. The profits from those companies and Polaris and AC are all brought back to the U.S. The profits from the othe companies go over seas.

It's not fair to single out a company that started here in the U.S. and has always been U.S. owned. I'm not a shill for them, I have been very critical how they address flaws with their vehicles. They are not particularly customer friendly.

 

Kawasaki has been making machines in Lincoln, Nebraska for many years, the KLT250's were made there, along with many atv models, and Honda has a plant in Kentucky.

 

Its time for our government to step up and do something about the constant outsourcing of American production and jobs to other countries. Possibly a stiff import tariff on parts and machines assembled outside and brought in will make them think twice about shipping jobs overseas/over the border. If they are allowed to shave millions off their production costs without dropping the price to the American consumer, then its time they pay to deny American workers the opportunity to earn a decent wage here in this country by making them pay to bring their product back here. We are the ones who keep them in business, yet they turn their backs on us and lay off hundreds to put more money in their pockets, even when they are selling more product than ever before. Fair trade laws say we cant over tax imports, but what about protecting the jobs that are lost to the outsourcing? How about Fair job laws, that regulate the percentage of product that can be made elsewere ?? Most other countries have strict guidlines pertaining to imports, yet the USA allows big companies to idle thousands of workers, close plants, all to save a few dollars an hour wages paid to the American people, who are their number one consumer....there may not be a lot the public can do, but sending a message to our government come election time may wake up the politicians that are only looking out for the big businesses that fund thier campaigns.

 

this thread is turning into a political theam not a polaris one. just say we all have are own views on the subject for sure.