Quote: Who didn't see this coming? I believe I predicted this when Indian was relaunched. LINK
Frankly, the brain trust at Polaris didn't see it coming. I'm referring to interviews with Polaris leadership just a couple of years past. I can't quote them verbatim, but the sentiment was that Victory wasn't going away.
I can tell you this, the Victory faithful are p!ssed! Many of them have already sworn off all Polaris products until further notice.
As you might imagine, I'm not happy.
Executives can't publicly admit their marketing plan as it would weaken confidence in both brands. I was in Sturgis when Polaris launched Indian in Aug 2013 and man they spared no expense but they couldn't come right out and say "as soon as Indian gets a foothold and the infrastructure is in place we're going to shut down Victory." And Victory was a fall back position just in case Indian failed again. They let both brands exist albeit with Indian getting the lions share of resources, Indian got the Scout before Victory got the Octane for example but with the motorcycle market being tough for everyone lately the time was right to make the split.
That doesn't comfort the Victory fans though. It was like when General Motors decided to terminate their Pontiac brand (and keep Buick -yuck!) all of those Firebird, GTO etc fans were furious.
Now Indian alone is going to have to do what both brands did before. That means Indian is going to have to change a bit but if they do it right Indian will be stronger than both brands were individually.
I just hope Polaris stays committed given motorcycles are only 15% of their business.
Last edited by outerbanks; 01/11/20174:07 AM.
2011 Triumph America (10/2011 to 07/2014)
2012 Harley Davidson 1200C Sportster
2014 Harley Davidson Dyna Wide Glide
