Polaris Inc.

Polaris Industries

File:Polaris2.png
Company type	Public
Industry	Motor vehicles
Founded	1954
Founders	Edgar Hetteen, Allen Hetteen, and David Johnson
Headquarters	Medina, Minnesota , USA
Key people	Scott W. Wine (CEO) Bennett J. Morgan (President, COO)
Products	All-terrain vehicles Snowmobiles Motorcycles
Revenue	1.78 billion US$
Website	polarisindustries.com

Polaris Industries (NYSE: PII) is a manufacturer of snowmobiles, ATV, golfcarts, and neighborhood electric vehicles. Polaris is based in Medina, Minnesota, USA. The company also manufactures motorcycles through its Victory Motorcycles subsidiary. Polaris no longer produces watercraft.

Robin (a subsidiary of Fuji Heavy Industries, which is the owner of Subaru) develops and supplies all-terrain vehicle (ATV) and snowmobile engines for U.S.-based leisure equipment maker Polaris Industries Inc. Starting in 1995 with the Polaris Magnum 425 4-stroke atv and in 1997, with the introduction of the "twin 700" snowmobile engine Polaris started the development and production of in-house produced powerplants, know as the "Liberty" line of engines, now found in many models across their current production lines. This production makes many Polaris products 100% American made. Fuji Heavy Industries now also maintains a US based production plant, in conjunction with Polaris, so that all engines are now American Made.

In late 2005, Polaris Industries announced that it would purchase a portion of KTM Motorcycles. Through this venture KTM has developed their own ATV and Polaris has developed Sport ATVs which utilize the KTM 525 and 450 powerplants that have seen great success on the ATV racing circuit.

In 2008, Polaris started backing H-Bomb films freestyle/race team The Bomb Squad. Alongside the Bomb Squad, Polaris also sponsors their own team, which has racers in all the GNCC, WORCS, WPSA, and ITP QuadCross series.

Corporate history

Polaris Sno Traveler (1965)

Edgar Hetteen and Allan Hetteen were partners in Hetteen Hoist and Derrick Shop in Roseau, Minnesota. David Johnson partnered with Allan and Edgar Hetteen, to create a vehicle that could travel through snow. These vehicles' primary use was to make hunting locations more accessible. The employees worked overtime to finish their concept model in 1954. After creating it using a grain silo conveyor belt as a track and an old Chevy bumper for skis, they had the first snowmachine. They sold it to "Silver Pete", the lumber yard owner, for $465. A second model was created, called the Polaris Sno Traveler. The first production model rolled off the assembly line in Minnesota in 1956. The original models weighed close to 1,000 lb (450 kg). and moved at a speed of about 20 mph (32 km/h). They came in a two-tone paintjob (white below blue with a strip or chrome trim dividing them). Polaris is also the top selling brand for automatic all-terrain vehicles (ATV).

Edgar left the company in June 1960 and started a competing company called Polar Manufacturing in Thief River Falls, Minnesota. The company name later changed to Arctic Enterprises. That company continues on as Arctic Cat.

In May 2009, Polaris Announced the creation of an On-Road Vehicle Division. The new division takes the existing skills and assets within the company and aligns them in a way that maximizes cohesive and strategic growth for Victory Motorcycles and other on-road products and brands.

Lubricants

Polaris has a wide range of lubricants, which are sold under the name PURE Polaris, to compliment their broad series of machines like their ATVs and snowmobiles. Polaris has everything from synthetic motor oils to conventional oils for their machines. Greases, sprays, kits and other specialty fluids are among other lubricants.

Oils and Lubricants Overview

• 2 Cycle Oils
• 4 Cycle Oils
• Maintenance Kits
• Maintenance Lubricants
• Aerosols
• Specialty Fluids
• Grease
• Fuels
• Additives
• Exterior Care Products

2008 models

Snowmobiles

Performance

• IQ Shift
• 700 IQ
• 600RR
• 600 Dragon IQ
• 700 Dragon IQ
• Turbo Dragon

Crossover

• 600 Switchback
• 700 Switchback
• Turbo Switchback
• 600 Dragon Switchback
• 700 Dragon Switchback

Deep Snow

• 550 RMK TRAIL
• 600 RMK 144
• RMK Shift 155
• 600 RMK 155
• 700 RMK 155
• 700 Dragon RMK 155
• 700 Dragon RMK 163
• 800 Dragon RMK 155
• 800 Dragon RMK 163

Trail

• 120 Youth
• 340 Dump rider
• 550 LX
• SuperSport
• 600 IQ LX
• IQ Turbo LX

Touring

• Trail Touring DLX
• FS IQ Touring
• 600 IQ Touring
• FST IQ Touring
• IQ Cruiser
• WideTrak LX
• 340 Transport

2007 models

ATV:

• X2 500 EFI
• X2 500 EFI Deluxe
• X2 800 EFI
• X2 800 EFI Deluxe
• Hawkeye 4x2
• Hawkeye 4x4
• Outlaw 90
• Outlaw 500
• Outlaw 525
• Sawtooth Base
• Trail Boss 330
• Scrambler 500
• Phoenix 200
• Predator 50
• Predator 500
• Sportsman 90
• Sportsman 450
• Sportsman 500 EFI
• Sportsman 500 EFI Deluxe
• Sportsman 700 EFI
• Sportsman 800 EFI
• Sportsman 800 EFI Deluxe
• Sportsman 6x6
• Beast

2009 models

ATV:

• Sportsman 850 XP
• Sportsman 800 Touring (Tandem ATV)
• Trailboss 330

Side by Side (UTV):

• Ranger 400 H.O.
• Ranger 500
• Ranger 700 EFI
• Ranger 6x6
• Ranger RzR EFI

Snowmobiles:

• IQ 600 HO
• IQ 600 HO CFI
• IQ FST
• IQ Dragon
• RMK Trail
• RMK 600 HO 144
• RMK 600 HO 155
• RMK Dragon
• SwitchBack 600 HO
• SwitchBack 600 HO CFI
• SwitchBack FST
• IQ LX 600 HO CFI
• IQ LX FST
• LX 340
• LX 550
• IQ Cruiser FST
• IQ Touring FS
• IQ Touring 600 HO CFI
• IQ Touring FST
• WideTrak LX
• Touring 340
• Touring Trail Deluxe
• XC SP 500
• Super Sport 550
• 120 Base

Popular Past snowmobiles:

• Indy 650
• Indy 600 XLT (Extra Light Triple)
• Indy lite
• Indy Storm
• Centurion
• Mustang
• Colt
• Star
• XC Models

- sportsman 500 95 + Victory Motorcycles:

• Vegas Base
• Vegas 8-Ball
• Vegas JackPot
• Kingpin Base
• Kingpin Tour
• Hammer Base
• Hammer S
• Ness Signature Series JackPot

2006 models

All-Terrain Vehicles

• Sportsman models:
• 800 EFI
• 700 EFI
• 700 Twin
• 500 EFI
• 500 H.O.
• 450
• X2
• 6x6
• xc sp 500
• Hawkeye models
• 4x2
• 4x4
• Rec/Utility
• Sawtooth
• Magnum 330 4x4
• Trail Boss 330
• High Performance
• Predator 500
• Outlaw 525
• Outlaw 500
• Sport Collection
• Scrambler 500
• Trail Blazer 250
• Phoenix 200
• Limited Editions
• Sportsman 500 EFI Red Flame
• Sportsman 800 Browning Edition
• Sportsman 700 Browning Edition
• Sportsman 500 H.O. Browning Edition
• Sportsman 450 Browning Edition
• Predator 500 Cross Country
• Hawkeye Camo 300 4x4
• Youth
• Predator 90
• Sportsman 90
• Predator 50

Snowmobiles

• Fusion 900
• Fusion 700
• Fusion 600 H.O.

Victory

• Vegas Jackpot
• Hammer
• Vegas
• Vegas 8-ball
• Kingpin
• Touring Cruiser
• Ness Signature Series

Racing

Polaris Racing is one of the big four factory racing teams on the World PowerSports Association (WPSA) Snocross circuit. With 44 signed riders they also run in HillCross, Oval Track Racing, and Cross Country Racing. The Polaris Racing Team won 8 different Championships in the 2006/2007 season. Arnar Gunnarsson (#26) won the Pro Open and Gústi (#10) won Pro Stock and Klara Björk(#89) won pro women at Iceland, T. J. Gulla (#44) won the WPSA Pro Stock Championship, Ross Martin (#837) won the WPSA Pro Open Championship, and Kylie Abramson (#87) won the WPSA Pro Women's Championship. Gabe Bunke (#74) has won the USCC Pro 600 Class Championship and the USCC Pro Open Class. Dustin Wahl (#74) won the Pro Ice 440 Championship, the Pro Ice Formula Championship, and the Millennium 600 Open championship, and John Cyr III (#99) won the 2004 USCC Pro 700 Class Championship. Most all of the Polaris Racing riders drive the IQ 400, 600 or 700 Racer, depending on the class and the event. Taylor was here!(:

References

1993-1995 trailboss 250 (2stroke) approx- 64 mph 200 trailboss 325 (4stroke) approx- 45 mph

External links

• Polaris Industries official site