Ongoing growth of the side-by-side market and market share gains by Polaris Industries “should more than offset weak snowmobile industry sales (down 3 percent February season to date),” according to a research report by Wells Fargo Securities analyst Tim Conder.
Conder provided the report to Powersports Business following a Polaris analyst meeting in Texas and then Monterrey, Mexico, at the Polaris manufacturing plant.
Conder reported that the heavyweight motorcycle market has seen U.S. retail sales growth of 9-11 percent in January and February.
Also, Conder goes on to report that the “side-by-side market continues strong from a 250,000-300,000 unit 2011 industry base. We believe [Polaris] is again gaining share, driven by its RZR XP, XP4 and 570 skus and the Ranger diesel. Military has a quarter backlog and should benefit from a new rubber polymer ‘fun flat’ airless tire.”
Conder also reports that “based on new patent filings, [Polaris] is NOT excessively concerned with new products coming from major Japanese competitors over the next 1-2 years.”
In addition, Conder reports that U.S. industry snowmobile retail unit sales through February are down 3 percent compared to a year ago.
