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[RoadTrip]

http://powersportsbusiness.com/top-stories/2017/01/09/polaris-winds-down-victory-brand/

[porthole]

http://powersportsbusiness.com/top-stories/2017/01/09/polaris-winds-down-victory-brand/

Dead link, but this seems to work.

http://ir.polaris.com/investors/news/news-details/2017/Polaris-Industries-to-Wind-Down-Victory-Motorcycles-Operations-Strengthening-its-Position-in-the-Powersports-Industry/default.aspx

Or google polaris victory brand

https://www.google.com/search?q=polaris+winds+down+victory+brand&oq=polaris+winds+down+victory+brand&aqs=chrome..69i57j69i60.14247j0j4&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#q=polaris+victory+brand

[110tHunDer]

Holy cow.  I would've thought Victory had a better chance of competing with Harley than Indian.  But at least there won't be any more of those ugly-ass Visions being produced. 

[RonandJanet]

So the Indian style is doing so well they dropped the Victory brand. I am not a fan of the Victory looks but there did seem to be a number of them out there and they were priced competitively.  I had not heard anything about their sales but clearly they must have dropped off with the introduction of the Indian brand. Glad I don't own a Victory. 

[grayghost731]

Around here I  see  10 victory's  to 1 indian.         oh  well !   Really did  not like either.   

[iski]

Placement in the Polaris dealer showrooms was a clue. Indians placed in prime time, Victory shoved over to the back or in a remote corner. Was not impressed with Victory to begin with, except for unabashed revulsion for the bone ugly Vision.  Looks like Indian is the horse they have chosen to ride.  Heads up, Indian is a better competitor to Harley than Victory was, brand name alone helps a lot.

Not a surprise either when you look at what Polaris pushed at bike rallies.  Indian was always featured, Victory was a sideline.

[JCZ]

Polaris has deep pockets but I recall an article a few months ago that mentioned that the motorcycle devision wasn't making near as much as the other vehicles produced by Polaris.

There were also several recalls last year for Indians.  Time will tell.........

[porthole]

#1 son's PD just had a Victory delivered after a hard sell, be interesting to see how that works now.

[Panhead_Jimmy]

Per MSN: After 18 years of building cruisers in the USA, Victory Motorcycles is pulling into the garage and putting down its kickstand for the final time. Parent company Polaris has announced it is closing down the brand. The decision is the result of both success and failure. Despite some recent gains – sales were up 18 percent in the 2nd quarter of 2016, for instance – Victory has struggled in its head-to-head battle with the behemothic beast that is Harley Davidson, peaking in sales back in 2012 and losing money in three of the past five years.  By contrast, acquisition and development of the classic Indian Motorcycle brand by Polaris has proven to be a brilliant decision, with booming sales and expanding distribution. Also, its three-wheeled Slingshot roadster, which the company houses in its motorcycle division, has been somewhat of a sales surprise. So, business being what is, the difficult decision was made to concentrate efforts in the areas that have been bearing more and better fruit. Polaris CEO puts the move in corporate speak thusly:
"Our focus is on profitable growth, and in an environment of finite resources, this move allows us to optimize and align our resources behind both our premium, high performing Indian Motorcycle brand and our innovative Slingshot brand, enhancing our focus on accelerating the success of those brands. Ultimately this decision will propel the industry-leading product innovation that is core to our strategy while fostering long-term growth and increased shareholder value."
For fans of the brand and current owners, some sort of solace may be found in the fact that the company says that it will, for the next 10 years, continue to supply parts for the Victory lineup and honor warranties. Plus, we'd bet there will soon be some good deals to be found on current inventory.

[porthole]

.

[Ironhorse]

Usually when things get shut down it's due to poor revenue, which it tied to sales. I can't recall a strong money maker closing doors. Sure, the MSN article said sales were up, but not enough to sustain itself. And with the out the door cost of a new motorcycle, that may be the driving factor. I think Victory got caught in Ness Styling, it's too personality specific and does not appeal to a wide spectrum of the motorcycle buying community. They couldn't outright copy HD as that style is too obvious. It's almost as if Victory was the Forrest Gump of motorcycles, everywhere at the right time, loved by those who knew the brand, but just a unique icon to the rest of the motorcycle world. And in the end perhaps the Ness look did not generate the appeal they hoped to drive more sales. So regardless of how well built the bikes were, not enough people bought them to keep the brand going. Indian on the other hand has an established history. It also has a look that appeals to a wider audience of the Non-HD world. Now in order to survive, Indian must become Harley-like, by that I mean it must always retain it's nostalgic and original look and styling, while updating and improving constantly. It probably shouldn't try to branch into new looks like the Vision. 

But I could be wrong.

[Harley Guy]

Around here I  see  10 victory's  to 1 indian.         oh  well !   Really did  not like either.   

Ohio also, IMO

[johnsachs]

This could hurt some NHRA Pro-Stock bike teams. 
John

[RoadTrip]

My reading of the tea leaves is Polaris was faced with a major capital investment decision. Both the Victory and Indian Motorcycle brands were produced in the same factory and expansion was required to meet a growing Indian Motorcycle demand, not to mention the need to expand/refresh the Victory line. With Victory's shrinking penetration in the Gold Wing, BMW, and Harley-Davidson segment, it was a difficult, but very logical decision to move all their bets to the Indian Motorcycle brand. Their challenge from this point forward is to expand  the Indian product line to explode the rider base beyond the 50+ rider niche in order to feed the "growth" machine Wall Street demands. This is high stakes poker and the next one who blinks loses.

[CVODON]

Victory recently cut Matt Smith back to one Pro Stock bike but had added a new team with two bikes, one of which Angelle was to ride. Wonder what will happen to that operation. Saw a photo of a shop with a couple of lifts and bikes that was under construction. Not an Angelle fan but I do think nothing about this announcement can be good for either her new team or Matt's who has been fighting the Gunner deal for two seasons.
Maybe Indian name will take over, but then Indian has been dead since 1952 and just took over someone else's brand by renaming it so this would be nothing new for them.