The new GEMs for model year 2016.

I recently interviewed GEM Director John Stockman about the changes to the GEM lineup for model year 2016, the vision for the brand and how it fits within the overall small vehicle portfolio of Polaris. Here is an excerpt from the larger article posted in our Buying Guide section:

Polaris has made extensive changes to the GEM lineup for the 2016 e2, e4, e6 and eL XD models. Stylistically the iconic “bubble” design is still noticeable from a side view, but a frontal view reveals significant changes. The new design was in large part based on customer research. According to Stockman, in the neighborhood of 10 different designs were vetted by customers and consumers before a final design was chosen.

Even more important than stylistic changes, were the engineering changes made under the skin in direct response to several phases of customer research, including multiple ride clinics with dozens of customers and consumers, feature and finish related research, as well as feedback from dealers. The research focused the product development process on a number of key areas. One was the comfort of users as they ingress and egress from the vehicles all throughout their day. Towards that end, more legroom and headroom has been created. A past complaint about hot seats was also addressed as well as items as minor as having self-canceling turn signals.

A second issue highlighted by the research was vehicle safety. Stockman states that, “We are hearing more and more from corporate campuses, colleges and universities, hotel and resorts, that they are moving away from the traditional golf carts towards LSVs because of their safety features.” With that in mind the safety features the GEM is known for were kept but also improved. This included better brakes, vehicle handling in evasive situations and seatbelts. “We really focused on making sure that this was the safest LSV you could get”, remarked Stockman.

Another focus… View Full Article

I will be following up this article with some impressions from GEM dealers on the changes for the 2016 model lineup. For detailed vehicle specifications for the 2016 and past GEMs, search the SVR vehicle database.