The primary off-road vehicle (ORV) and niche motorcycle businesses of US powersports manufacturer Polaris Industries prospered during 2019, even if overall group profitability declined. BDN financial editor Roger Willis reports.
Total annual revenue rose by 11.6% to £5.214bn. The company’s core ORV segmental contribution (encompassing side-by-side ATVs, quadbikes and snowmobiles) was 7.3% up to £3.234bn. Motorcycles — mainly Indian bikes plus much smaller quantities of Slingshot trikes — increased by 6.9% to £448.7m.
However, consolidated operating profit from the full range of Polaris activities fell by 0.8% to £371.5m. Net profit was 3.4% down to £248.8m.
As usual, Polaris assiduously avoided unit sales volume revelations. But it’s possible to elicit from the results presentation that, while Slingshot sales slumped, Indian motorcycles continued to achieve steady global growth. And although still dwarfed by Harley-Davidson, the brand is gradually chipping away at the latter’s key US domestic cruiser market share.  Â
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