Victory Motorcycles is dead; Polaris to concentrate on Indian Motorcycle

Victory has struggled to establish the market share needed to succeed and be profitable.

Polaris Industries, the parent company of popular motorcycle brand, Indian Motorcycle, has decided to pull the plug at the Victory motorcycle brand under its umbrella with immediate effect. Victory motorcycle brand is Iowa-based American company best known for making classic cruiser-style bikes.

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Polaris Industries in a statement said that it will assist dealers in liquidating existing inventories, while continuing to supply parts for a period of 10 years, along with providing service and warranty coverage to Victory dealers and owners.

Polaris Industries introduced the Victory brand in 1998 as a direct competitor to the Milwaukee based Harley-Davidson Motorcycle Company with a range of V-twin engine equipped touring, sport-touring, and cruiser motorcycles.

After 18 years, Victory has struggled to establish the market share needed to succeed and be profitable. Victory's share of the motorcycle market slid to just 2 percent last year, from 3 percent in 2013. The brand is also making losses for Polaris Industries in the past four years. Given the significant additional investments required for Victory to launch new global platforms that meet changing consumer preferences, Polaris is interested in concentrating on the growth potential of Indian Motorcycle.

"This was an incredibly difficult decision for me, my team and the Polaris Board of Directors," said Polaris Industries Chairman and CEO Scott Wine. "This decision will improve the profitability of Polaris and our global motorcycle business, and will materially improve our competitive stance in the industry," he added.

The Victory brand had sold 60 motorcycle models in 18 years of life. The Octane is a completely new Victory model featuring a 1200cc engine with over 100hp added in the 2017 line-up.

Polaris said that it remains committed to maintaining its presence in the Spirit Lake, Iowa, where the Victory motorcycles were manufactured along with Indian Motorcycle production and in Huntsville, Alabama with its Slingshot production.