Polaris Inc. is an American automotive manufacturer headquartered in Medina, Minnesota, United States. Polaris was founded in Roseau, Minnesota, where it still has engineering and manufacturing facilities. The company manufactured motorcycles through its Victory Motorcycles subsidiary until January 2017, and currently produces motorcycles through the Indian Motorcycle subsidiary, which it purchased in April 2011. Polaris produced personal watercraft from 1994–2004. The company was originally named Polaris Industries Inc. and was renamed in 2019 to Polaris Inc.
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Robin (a subsidiary of Subaru Corporation) previously developed and supplied all-terrain vehicle (ATV) and snowmobile engines for Polaris 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 in house of the “Liberty” line of engines, now found in many models across their current production lines. Since that time Polaris has continued to develop their in-house engine production capacity, now designing and manufacturing all of their own power plants, while maintaining the partnership with Subaru.
In 2010, Polaris relocated a portion of its utility and sport vehicle assembly to Mexico. Components are manufactured in Osceola, Wisconsin and the vehicle assembly is done in Roseau, Minnesota. The vast majority of powertrain and vehicles for the off-road line are manufactured in the Osceola and Roseau facilities, respectively. Both the Victory and Indian motorcycle brands are American made with complete powertrains and vehicle assembly located in Osceola, Wisconsin, and Spirit Lake, Iowa, respectively.
HISTORY
Polaris was established in 1954 as Polaris Industries Inc.
In 1968, the company was acquired by Textron, Inc.
In 1981, W. Hall Wendel, Jr. acquired Polaris from Textron.
In 2019, the company changed its name from Polaris Industries Inc. to Polaris Inc.
BRANDS
- Off-Road (ATVs and single-seat vehicles) – RZR, Ranger, Polaris General, Sportsman, Polaris Snowmobiles, Timbersled, Polaris Commercial, Polaris Government & Defense, and Hammer Head;
- On-Road – Indian Motorcycles, Slingshot, Aixam, and Goupil;
- Marine – Bennington, Godfrey, and Hurricane;
- Aftermarket accessories – 509, Kolpin, Klim, Premier OEM, Pro Armor, and Trail Tech.
With more than 16.000 employees, Polaris Inc. is considered one of the largest power sports manufacturers in the world. According to Forbes, it is considered one of the Largest Public Companies in the World.
*Information from Forbes.com, Wikipedia.org, and www.polaris.com
**Video published on YouTube by “Polaris Industries Inc.“
