Arctic Cat sold to Textron

[NJSkidoo]

http://finance.yahoo.com/m/867fb2ef-7e21-3d0b-bd70-206e55c33573/ss_textron-is-buying-vehicle.html

[Teet F8SP]

At least its still made/owned in the USA and not China or something...  Textron based out of RI

Cat is due for some big changes so it will be fun to see what they are up to...

They did release that they are coming out with the new 800 Ctec with improved performance and gas mileage which was long overdue...

 

[182ray]

I think Textron once owned Polaris

[Pipeman]

That's an interesting transaction

[mikerider]

 That is right Ray, Textron once owned Polaris.  Maybe the '70's or 80's???

[Phil 1]

Textron is a big company, let's hope they have interest in the sled market and it does not turn into an A M F buying Harley.

Bell helicopter, Cessna, E-Z-GO, Lycoming Engines, ect...

[jeffgrah]

Yup Textron owned Polaris and dumped them result was Polaris almost went out of business.

[vt_bluyamaha54]

Can't really see an upside for Arctic's snowmobile business from this. Pretty sure Textron's interest is purely ATVs/SXSs for the military - which is a big piece of Arctic's sales.

[iceman]

8 minutes ago, vt_bluyamaha54 said:

Can't really see an upside for Arctic's snowmobile business from this. Pretty sure Textron's interest is purely ATVs/SXSs for the military - which is a big piece of Arctic's sales.

Don't the military use sleds too?

[vt_bluyamaha54]

Unsure how involved US (or foreign) militaries are with sleds Don but from A/C's investor presentation last Spring, they anticipated their sled revenues shrinking from 41% (FY16) to 28% (FY21) of the biz. ATVs percentage was to increase from 44% to 55% for the same FYs.

[iceman]

Up here the military has a ton of sleds. Seen a whole unit once at Complexe Pel Chat on A training mission. They were getting a break from sleeping in the bush after so many days out. 

Edited January 25, 2017 by iceman

[Teet F8SP]

They will need sleds for when Trump goes to visit Putin....

[182ray]

22 hours ago, Phil 1 said:

Textron is a big company, let's hope they have interest in the sled market and it does not turn into an A M F buying Harley.

Bell helicopter, Cessna, E-Z-GO, Lycoming Engines, ect...

Add Beechcraft to that list

[NSHM]

Found this on another site.

In 1968 Polaris was sold to Textron, a diversified company holding E-Z Go golf carts, Bell helicopters, Talon zippers, and Schaefer pens. The company kept Polaris in Roseau and continued snowmobile manufacturing, but also began limited research and development on watercraft and wheeled turf vehicles. Herb Graves of Textron became president and Johnson stayed on as vice-president to oversee production.

During the 1970s Polaris began to solidify its reputation for high-performance snowmobiles. In pre-Textron years, Polaris had purchased its snowmobile engines from a number of suppliers. With the entry of Textron, Polaris was able to bring on Fuji Heavy Industries as its sole supplier. Fuji engineers went to Roseau to work on building a high-quality engine specifically for Polaris. Increasingly, the Polaris product lines were being noticed. The TX Series set a standard for power and handling in racing and gained popularity with recreational riders. Introduced in 1977, the liquid-cooled TX-L was a strong cross-country racing competitor. Polaris also introduced the RX-L in the mid-1970s, which carried the first Independent Front Suspension (IFS) and produced winners on the racing circuits shortly after its debut. The 1970s also marked the opening of corporate offices in Minneapolis, with product development and production staying up north.

The sport of snowmobiling grew by leaps and bounds in the early 1970s; enthusiasts in the snowbelts of the United States and Canada now numbered more than a million. The growth rate for the industry was 35 percent per year, versus 20 percent for other recreation industry manufacturers. In 1970, 63 companies manufactured snowmobiles in the United States, Canada, Europe, and Japan. Bombardier held 40 percent of the market, with an additional 40 percent shared by Arctic Cat, Polaris, Scorpion, and Sno Jet. About one-third of the machines manufactured in North America in the early 1970s were made in Minnesota.

Factory-backed racing teams found Polaris support in the days of Allan Hetteen and Textron, but the death of a Polaris team member in 1978 effectively ended the program. From 1981 on the company sponsored a modified racing program with independent racers. Hill climbs, stock and modified oval racing, snow and grass drag racing, and cross-country endurance racing tested the limits of the machines and appealed to customers. Racing was an important part of engineering research and development as well as public relations and product marketing.

Yet in the late 1970s, despite everything that favored the industry--including regular improvements in safety and an expanding trail system that would eventually rival the U.S. Interstate Highway System in total miles--the snowmobiling boom was about to go bust. Companies began shutting down or selling off their snowmobile divisions in the face of declining sales. Names such as Scorpion, AM, Harley-Davidson, Johnson & Evinrude, Chaparral, and Suzuki would no longer be seen on snowmobile nameplates. By 1980 even Arctic Enterprises, the number one manufacturer, was in trouble. High energy costs, economic recessions, snowless winters, and overexpansion eventually drove all but three manufacturers of snowmobiles out of business. Industry sales slid downhill from 500,000 units annually in the early 1970s to 316,000 in 1975; 200,000 in 1980; 174,000 in 1981; and 80,000 in 1983.

Management Buyout in 1981

Textron wanted out of the snowmobile business, too. Textron president Beverly Dolan, who had been president of Polaris during its first years with Textron, told Polaris's then-president, W. Hall Wendel, Jr., to sell off the company. A deal to sell the Polaris division to Canada's Bombardier fell through, however, because of the threat of antitrust action by the U.S. Department of Justice. Liquidation was on the horizon. This opened the door for a management group leveraged buyout led by Wendel, who believed that there was a market for snowmobiles and that seasonal snowfalls would rise again. Polaris Industries was created in July 1981, and a shutdown of the Roseau plant was avoided. (Still, the company began production with just 100 workers after the buyout.) Also at this time, plant workers voted the union out and Polaris proceeded to establish a Japanese labor model of worker participation, with a crew that had firsthand knowledge of the machines and their capabilities. Times were still tough, though: the 1982 product line consisted of the 1981 model with some detail changes, and barely more than 5,000 machines were built that season. The same year as the buyout, Polaris attempted to purchase Arctic Cat. When the deal failed, Arctic Cat shut down, leaving Polaris, at least for a while, as the only American snowmobile manufacturer."