This
year marks the 65th anniversary
of Polaris, a brand that has substantially grown to become a global leader in
the Powersports industry, fuelling the passion of riders, workers and outdoor
enthusiasts for more than six decades.
Striving
to deliver quality, safety and performance, Polaris continually develops new
innovation and technology to help people do more outside, whether it be on
sand, snow, water, trails or road.
In
the small town of Roseau, Minnesota in 1954, two brothers and a best friend had
a problem to solve. Avid outdoorsmen, the three needed a better way to travel
through the deep snow of Northern Minnesota during the long winter months.
Combining skilled hands and their collective ingenuity, Edgar and Allan Hetteen
and David Johnson built the first Polaris snowmobile, pieced together from
parts in their machine shop. That year, Polaris Industries Inc. was
founded.
The
very first snowmobile was sold for less than $500 to a lumberyard owner, but
over the next 65 years, that same ingenuity and adventurous spirit drove
Polaris forward, amassing a number of industry firsts and inspired ideas along
the way.
In
1985, Polaris expanded its product suite to include All Terrain Vehicles with
its first ATV brought to market, the Trail Boss, later joined by the world’s
first ATV with electric fuel injection, the Sportsman®. In the 1990s, momentum
continued to build when Polaris introduced personal watercrafts, Victory
motorcycles, and the original Polaris RANGER. During difficult times in the US
economy, Polaris put the pedal to the medal and introduced the RZR in 2007.
Not only was this a game-changing new product in the market, but it also
created an entirely new product category, the sports-recreational side-by-side.
More
recently, Polaris has continued to grow its brand portfolio. In 2011, Polaris
acquired and relaunched the Indian Motorcycle brand, and later in
2014, Polaris created a new product category with the Slingshot as well as
celebrating the grand opening of Opole in Poland, its first manufacturing
facility outside of North America. Creating a customer experience outside of
the sole purchase of a Polaris vehicle has led to the addition of multiple
aftermarket parts, garments and accessories brands including, 509, Klim,
Kolpin, and Transamerican Auto Parts. Last year, Polaris acquired Boat Holdings
LLC, expanding Polaris’ footprint in the recreational outdoors market.
What
started with a single snowmobile has morphed into more than 30
brands across a variety of product lines. No longer just for snow, the
Polaris product lineup is now enjoyed across every terrain, in every continent.
