Polaris Industries

Polaris Industries

Type	Public
Traded as	: PII S&P 400 Component
Industry	Automotive Defense
Founded	1954
Founders	Edgar Hetteen Allen Hetteen David Johnson
Headquarters	Medina, Minnesota, U.S.
Area served	Worldwide (except Cuba, Iran, Syria, and North Korea)
Key people	Gregory Palen (Chairman) Scott W. Wine (CEO)
Products	Automobiles Commercial vehicles Automobile parts All-terrain vehicles Snowmobiles Motorcycles
Revenue	US$ 4.719 billion (2015)
Operating income	US$ 716.1 million (2015)
Net income	US$ 455.4 million (2015)
Total assets	US$ 2.388 billion (2015)
Total equity	US$ 981.5 million (2015)
Number of employees	3,000 (December 2015)
Divisions	Polaris Defense Polaris Commercial
Subsidiaries	List Aixam Global Electric Motorcars Goupil Industrie Victory Motorcycles International: Polaris Europe Polaris India
Website	Polaris.com

Polaris Industries is an American manufacturer of snowmobiles, ATV, and neighborhood electric vehicles. Polaris is based in Roseau, Minnesota, USA. The company also manufactures motorcycles through its Victory Motorcycles subsidiary and through the Indian Motorcycle subsidiary which it purchased in April 2011. Polaris no longer produces watercraft.

Robin (a subsidiary of Fuji Heavy Industries, which is the owner of Subaru) previously developed and supplied all-terrain vehicle (ATV) and snowmobile engines for Polaris Industries 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 of in-house produced power plants, known as 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.

In 2010 Polaris relocated a portion of its utility and sport vehicle assembly to Mexico. Components manufactured in Osceola, Wisconsin and the vehicle assembly 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.

Edgar Hetteen, who was described by the Snowmobile Hall of Fame in St. Germain, Wisconsin as the father of the snowmobile, and Allan Hetteen were partners in Hetteen Hoist and Derrick Shop in Roseau, Minnesota. Edgar had dropped out of school after the eighth grade in 1934. Their employees, David Johnson, partnered with Paul Knochenmus, and Orlen Johnson, who was the first person to ride a Polaris, decided to create a vehicle that could travel through snow. These vehicles' primary use was to make hunting locations more accessible. David Johnson created the prototype in 1954 while Edgar was away. Edgar was furious. After creating it using a grain silo conveyor belt as a track, a Briggs and Stratton motor, and an old Chevy bumper for skis, they had their first snow machine. After returning from a trip, Edgar was shown the machine, but was skeptical of its value. and was disappointed that the group had spent company time and materials on the machine. The No 1 sled was soon sold to Roseau lumberyard owner "Silver Pete" H.F. Peterson for $465 in order to meet company payroll.