American Motorcycle Dealer AMD 233 December 2018 | Page 64

NEWS Polaris Q3 - Indian Motorcycle Unit
BRIEFS Sales and Market Share Up; Overall
Sales +12% at $1,651 Million
Polaris Industries Inc. declared a
regular quarterly $0.60 per
share cash dividend payable on
December 17, 2018 to
shareholders of record at the
close of business on December
3, 2018.
Eric Cagle left Tucker after two years
as President, being temporarily
replaced by interim MAG CEO Mike
Buettner. “The change in direction
represents a shift in philosophy with
a focus on better serving Tucker
dealers and vendors.” Cagle’s
departure came in September, some
weeks before Greg Blackwell’s
appointment to Tucker as Snr Sales &
Marketing VP and Hugh Charvat as
the new MAG CEO.
Harley has announced that it is
selling apparel and riding gear
on Amazon. Harley is blaming
the annoying habit that
Boomers have started to
develop of, you know, kind of
dying out, as forcing them to
have to explore new channels
and find new audiences and
buyers - “we live in an on-
demand, anywhere, anytime
business environment where
success depends on the ability
to meet consumers on their
terms and on their turf” (so not
under the turf then!).
EU motorcycle registrations by month
for 2018 Q3 were 108,874 units in
July (100,029 in 2017), 77,488 units
in August (68,086 in 2017) and
82,897 units in September (76,611
in 2017).
BMW Motorrad’s worldwide
sales were down by -0.8%
(126,793 units) for the first 9
months of 2018; September
sales were +0.2% (14,124
units).
Polaris Industries has reported
motorcycle segment sales,
including PG&A, of $155 million
for the third quarter of 2018,
which is flat compared to the
third quarter of 2017, but with
gross profit up at $20 million
compared to $10 million in the
third quarter of 2017.
Adjusted for the Victory wind-down
costs recorded in both the 2018 and
2017 third quarters, motorcycle gross
profit was $21 million in the 2018 third
quarter compared to $18 million for
the 2017 third quarter.
North American consumer retail sales
for the Polaris motorcycle segment,
including both Indian Motorcycle and
Slingshot, decreased high-single digits
during the 2018 third quarter. Indian
Motorcycle retail sales increased low-
single digits, in spite of an overall weak
North American motorcycle market.
Slingshot's retail sales were down
during the quarter. Motorcycle industry
retail sales, 900 cc and above, were
down low-teens percent in the 2018
third quarter, meaning that Indian
Motorcycle gained market share for the
2018 third quarter on a year-over-year
basis.
Scott Wine, Chairman and Chief
Executive Officer of Polaris Industries
Inc., said that “the dedication and
strong execution of our Polaris team
continued to drive broad based growth
across the business in the third quarter.
“Our model year '19 product news was
well received, and our improving
manufacturing and logistics
performance accelerated the
successful roll-out of RFM (Retail Flow
Management) for side-by-sides.
“International growth again outpaced
North America, with Indian market
share gains continuing in every market
we serve.
“We were also pleased with the early
performance of Boat Holdings, the
largest manufacturer of pontoon boats
in the U.S., that we welcomed to our
growing Powersports portfolio earlier
Scott Wine, Chairman and Chief
Executive Officer of Polaris: “The
dedication and strong execution of
our Polaris team continued to drive
broad based growth across the
business in the third quarter.”
in the quarter.
“Our commitment to customers and
investments in the U.S. remain strong
as we broke ground on a new multi-
product PG&A and aftermarket
distribution center in Nevada. We are
strategically and tactically committed
to being a customer-centric, highly
efficient growth company, and our
investments demonstrate that
commitment.
“Our goals do not eliminate or even
diminish the serious challenges we
face from tariffs, but they certainly
increase our resolve to find acceptable
solutions or offsets. We are making too
much progress with our supply chain,
safety and quality and innovation
initiatives to have the benefits wiped
out by protracted trade negotiations.
“The challenge is real, and so are our
efforts to overcome them. We remain
well positioned with a world-class
team and product line-up and are
Continues on page 12
Expect to see Indian’s new FTR 1200S sell well when it hits dealerships.
European models are being assembled in Poland from Complete Knock Down
kits (CKD) shipped from its Spirit Lake, Iowa factory.