Why Arctic Cat Quit Snowmobiles: ACTUAL REASON

The REAL reason Yamaha Quit Making Snowmobiles: Why Corporate America chases short term profits over long term growth and success, and why they don't care about the working class. I go into the economy, younger generations, and why none of this looks good for the snowmobile industry as a whole. Agree? Disagree? Leave a comment. Cheers!

#arcticcat #snowmobile #textron

[pgnandt]

If corporate greed is the problem, which I agree is a big factor. What is the solution?

[overcrestproductions]

Snowmobiles flat out just got too expensive.

[glenmallory]

Ex dealers kid here. Dad sold sleds in the boom years of 1966-1973. With all the snow we had those years, the damn things sold themselves. Farmers used the Panthers to haul hay bales to cows. (PA). Ski Daddler made a monster 20 inch track width hauler to compete with the Ski Doo Alpine but it was better because it had two skis and could be turned around without a flight crew directing it. We sold a bunch of those too. Arctic has now shut down twice. 1981 bankruptcy and now next spring. Both times low snow years and losing track of what sells sleds. You don’t fire your brain trust or ignore what the end user is telling you. But these modern companies are slaves to shareholders immediate profits. And it’s a cancer that cuts across all industries. There are thousands of good people underemployed across this nation because of short sighted thinking. You nailed it. Great video.

[bruceh]

You nailed it on no entry level prices. When my local dealer wants $7500 for a kids sled, and $12000 for a 400cc, there's no way to introduce kids to the sport.

[johnholtforth]

You are correct- the entire powersports industry is in trouble. Everything from Snowmobiles to boats to trucks are so expensive the middle class can no longer afford them. Good thing I am old and can work on cars, boats, and snowmobiles, at least to a degree. I own a 2009 snowmobile, a 98 boat and drive cars from 2004. How can anyone justify a $80K truck. Its the whole system, prices for things have gone up X10 since the 70's while wages for most have gone up X3 or 4. Not even going into housing prices. Real hard to see how this is sustainable. No wonder every young person is scared for their future.

[JamesMcnichol-ssoc]

You are absolutely right on this. I have finally given up on snowmobiling this year. It’s just costing too much to own one and only get out once or twice a year now. I’m from Canada and our winters are crap now in southern Ontario. And to travel to where the snow is just makes this even more expensive. With the financial situations people are in nowadays I understand why snowmobiling is in trouble.

[jasonb]

I think it really came down to 2 things above all. 1. Cost of entry and 2. Crappy winters the last 4-5 years.
Nobody is going to pay $25 THOUSAND dollars for something they can’t even use.

[AndrewMeyers]

Fellow Wisco snowmobiler here. I feel your frustration. I’m 23 and am lucky to have a few friends that got me into snowmobiling a few years ago. We mostly ride old iron because anything newer is way too expensive to justify. Especially with these short to nonexistent snow seasons. I love the older stuff though, but you have to be mechanically inclined.

In general, it’s a frustrating time to be a young person in America. My generation mostly can’t afford to get into hobbies like snowmobiling or boating. Those things are hard to justify with the price of housing and groceries being so high. Getting people my age to go outside is another challenge, but that’s a different topic. The American dream of owning a home and raising a family on a “middle class” income is dying quickly. Older people often just don’t get the reality of it.

It’s sad to think how exciting and affordable the snowmobiling used to be for the working class. My group is always the youngest up north and we rarely see another group of younger guys. It’s depressing and I don’t see it getting any better. I feel for the businesses that rely on the sport. They are hurting really bad, especially after the lack of snow last year.

[nightmove]

I called it the day that Textron bought Arctic Cat. I was there at one of the dealers meetings they had all over canada. We were few hundred dealers from québec and ontario. When they announced that the off-road products will now be called Textron off-road product!! We all looked at each other and be like wtf??? All our customers thought we were selling Chinese products. 1 year after we received arctic cat decals to apply on atv and side by side. Then they reduced by alot the models that were available like example at one point there was no more a true touring sled. Textron really destroyed the brand, they should have stick to bell helicopter and Cessna planes lol, sorry for my English.

[willpulera]

Our country's first problem is that our business model of companies making money for shareholders rather than making great products and business models.

[MrWoodshoes]

I can remember when snowmobiling was about exploring the outdoors with a large group of people, a dozen or more. Gone are the days when you looked for wildlife and cooked on the trail. Today is how many miles you can put on in day, basically a thrill ride !

[stevem]

In 2008 I had a used arctic cat 900 long track that I never got comfortable on. I went to the arctic cat dealer to buy a brand new cat, after talking with the owner of the dealership about my dirt bike background he sent me to the skidoo dealer telling me the rev chassis was leaps and bounds better to ride. I went and bought the rev 800 that day and my riding improved 50% overnight. I’ve always appreciated his honesty. Very rare.
I wonder if way back, if they had YouTube we would hear the same sentiment from those watching the horseless carriage enter the scene. I’m 62 and one thing I’ve observed is change is inevitable, not always good or bad but inevitable. How we roll with those punches is how we define the value of what little time we have on this earth. I.E. money makes some good people do bad things, that I know also to be true.

[bartpang]

The side by side market has probably done more to hurt the snowmobile market that anything. They can be used 90% of the year and take a large portion of the recreational use money.

[FordStroker]

I’m a public company CEO and you are correct about focus on short-term profits. However you are incorrect in assuming this is motivated primarily by senior management. The pressure for this short-term focus comes almost entirely from active (not passive) investors like hedge funds and activists. They wield massive and outsized power over the board who they threaten with proxy battles and into forced management changes. We need SEC regulation to mute this impact so boards and management can stay focused on longterm value creation.

[rain]

I was an Arctic Cat guy all my life at 63 years old I now ride Polaris because the used market for Cats will tank and then no parts. When I was a kid I bought my first Cats delivering newspapers, you couldn't do this now, the global economy is killing everything just like 100, 000 dollars for a new truck, everything is in big trouble including our future.

[paulnelson]

Nailed it! When companies go from being run by engineering to being run by bean counters, the long term results suck for consumers.

[cpieper]

I have been a diehard arctic cat fan for over 50 years, I refuse to pay $30, 000 for a new sled. It's all old school for me, I run sleds from the 1960's and 70's and have a great time for little money!

[RedEyedJack]

My first brand new sled was a 1997 Z440. I bought it in 1998 as a left over. I paid $2800 for it if i remember correctly. I worked an entire summer and saved every penny i could. Last sled i bought was a 2004 Firecat F5 SnoPro. I paid $7200 for it. There is no way id buy a new sled. Its like the damn side by side market. $20k for a damn side by side. Its all crazy.

[DarrenShaw-evtb]

Back in the early 70s - Snowmobiles were marketed as family fun ! - Fast forward to 24 - Is 25k Affordable ?

[obxmvvn]

There's no need to shut production down at Cat. There is a HUGE demand for PARTS for the sleds that were built in the past. There is so many sleds out there and a cult like following the people that built that brand need parts for the sleds they love. Would someone see this and recognize this demand from Cat and switch to produce parts that need to be made or maybe another company coming in and buying/managing it for future.