Arctic Cat recently announced that they plan to invest $27 million in their Thief River Falls and St. Cloud, Minnesota manufacturing facilities. The bulk of the investment will be in Thief River Falls where a new state-of-the-art paint line will be installed and other improvements made. In St. Cloud Arctic Cat’s engine manufacturing and assembly capabilities will be expanded. The paint line will be used for the company’s recreational off-road vehicles. The investment is expected to result in an additional 50 jobs. Learn more: Arcticcat.com

Comment:  This is another sign of the aggressiveness of the new CEO Christopher Metz who came in at the end of last year. Previously, after some sales and inventory problems with their ATVs, he immediately took a write down and quickly moved to reduce inventory rather than slowly trying to reduce the inventory over the next year or more. With companies like Honda and Yamaha renewing their UTV efforts, strong competition from Chinese manufacturers like Kymco and CFMoto and continuing efforts by Polaris and Can Am, Arctic Cat needs to continue to invest in their UTV product line in order to just maintain their market position, let alone improve it.