I have a little "inside baseball" knowledge from being in that industry for a while, albeit some time ago. When I was at Polaris (two decades ago now), the lack of snow for about 15 years had taken a toll on snowmobile sales. I don't remember the exact figures, but total industry sales in the USA were under 100,000 units annually. At that time, Ski Doo was #1, Polaris #2, Arctic Cat #3, and Yamaha #4. I believe they are still ranked that way except for Yamaha. They quit making sleds a while ago. All of those companies started as snowmobile companies (except Yamaha, of course.) Ski Doo and Polaris had successfully transitioned to ATV/UTV companies, but Arctic Cat struggled to follow suit. As a result, the continued lack of snow in the years since I left Polaris, coupled with their transition to ATV/UTV sales dominance has positioned Ski Doo and Polaris for longevity, but Arctic Cat, not so much.
Along comes Textron in 2017 to inject cash into Arctic Cat. I don't believe they were after military sales, though. They were experiencing soft sales in their aviation companies and had purchased Bad Boy (at the time making electric UTVs in the hunting market) a few years earlier to diversify, and they saw Arctic Cat as a bargain for an established off-road brand to build up their off-road portfolio. Unfortunately, that didn't work out the way they had hoped. At the end of 2024, they told their employees they would be shutting down operations in early 2025. That was sad news, as their two facilities - Thief River Falls, MN and St. Cloud, MN - were major employers in those communities.
Along comes Brad Darling. He had been VP of Snowmobiles for Arctic Cat, but got canned years earlier, and Argo (the six-wheeled amphibious vehicle manufacturer) had hired him. He convinced the investors that owned Argo to purchase Arctic Cat and have him run it. That was in early 2025. And that's where we are today, I think. Private equity owns Arctic Cat and Argo, and we all know how they operate. They ruthlessly pursue short term profit to recoup their investments. Hence, the hardball games with dealers...
During my time at Polaris, corporate communications about the snowmobile business were always incredibly depressing. The lack of snow had our customer base shrinking (and getting older) every year, and when coupled with rapidly rising prices for new units, it was very disheartening. That constant bad news was one of many reasons why I left there after only three years. I loved the work, and the team of engineers and techs with whom I worked was one of the best teams I ever had privilege of knowing.
Along comes Textron in 2017 to inject cash into Arctic Cat. I don't believe they were after military sales, though. They were experiencing soft sales in their aviation companies and had purchased Bad Boy (at the time making electric UTVs in the hunting market) a few years earlier to diversify, and they saw Arctic Cat as a bargain for an established off-road brand to build up their off-road portfolio. Unfortunately, that didn't work out the way they had hoped. At the end of 2024, they told their employees they would be shutting down operations in early 2025. That was sad news, as their two facilities - Thief River Falls, MN and St. Cloud, MN - were major employers in those communities.
Along comes Brad Darling. He had been VP of Snowmobiles for Arctic Cat, but got canned years earlier, and Argo (the six-wheeled amphibious vehicle manufacturer) had hired him. He convinced the investors that owned Argo to purchase Arctic Cat and have him run it. That was in early 2025. And that's where we are today, I think. Private equity owns Arctic Cat and Argo, and we all know how they operate. They ruthlessly pursue short term profit to recoup their investments. Hence, the hardball games with dealers...
During my time at Polaris, corporate communications about the snowmobile business were always incredibly depressing. The lack of snow had our customer base shrinking (and getting older) every year, and when coupled with rapidly rising prices for new units, it was very disheartening. That constant bad news was one of many reasons why I left there after only three years. I loved the work, and the team of engineers and techs with whom I worked was one of the best teams I ever had privilege of knowing.
