Polaris Reports Strong 3Q Results

Posted on October 20, 2010 by Marc Cesare

Polaris Industries reported strong third quarter results as the company continues to perform well in a struggling economic environment.?? Compared to last year’s numbers total sales increased 25% for the first nine months and 33% for the last three months, indicating increasing momentum as the year has progressed.?? In the off-road segment sales increased 33% compared to the first nine months in 2009 and 49% for the last three months.?? Management reported a generally positive reaction from dealers to their new product introductions and that they gained market share during the quarter.?? Unit sales in this segment which includes ATVs and side-by-sides increased 20% in the 3rd quarter compared to last year with side-by-side growing by over 20% and ATVs experiencing a single digit increase.?? Learn more:?? Businesswire.com

Vehicle OEM News

Posted on October 16, 2010 by Marc Cesare

Kubota Introduces Two UTVs in Australia – Kubota Tractor Australia recently introduced the diesel powered RTV1140 and the gas?? powered RTV500.?? The RV1140 features four-wheel drive and a 28.5 hp engine along with 4-wheel hydraulic disc brakes, hydrostatic power steering and hydraulic bed lift as standard.?? The smaller RTV500 features electronic fuel injection, a 200 kg payload and can easily be transported to work areas.?? Learn more:?? Fatcow.com.au

AVID Vehicles e-Warrior

AVID Vehicles of the UK Launches Electric UTV – AVID Vehicles based in Cramlington, UK recently launched their e-Warrior electric utility vehicle.?? The vehicle features dual DC motors, a range of 40 miles, a top speed of 25 to 30mph?? and a 250kg payload.?? MSRP is US$15,600.?? The company plans to produce 500 vehicles in 2011 and 1,000 in 2012.?? Learn more:?? Greencarcongress Journallive.co.uk

LSV Maker Wheego Unveils Full-speed EV – Wheego Electric Cars, manufacturer of the Wheego Whip LSV, will unveil the two-seat subcompact Wheego LiFe at the Los Angeles International Auto Show in November.?? The car has a 100 mile range, 20 kWh Li-ion battery pack and a MSRP of $32,995.?? Learn more:?? Greencarcongress.com

Sam’s Club Feature Stealth UTV/LSV

Posted on October 12, 2010 by Marc Cesare

Tom Colangelo, a local LSV dealer in Florida’s The Villages (a master planned community), has teamed up with Stealth Corporation and Sam’s Club to offer Stealth’s electric powered utility vehicles at several Florida Sam’s Clubs.?? The vehicles are also part of the store’s auto buying program which can be accessed online.?? The Stealths meet LSV requirements so residents of The Villages can use them within the community and venture out onto public roads.

Comment: The combination off-road UTV/LSV is a recent trend, and as the story notes, provides a more versatile alternative to golf cars in these communities.?? These combination vehicles will likely start taking increasing market share from golf cars within the master planned community market segment.?? While golf cars have traditionally had a cost advantage, as more municipalities open up public roads to LSVs, versatility will start trumping price differences.?? Learn more:?? PRLog.org

Cruise Car Launches All American Line

Posted on October 7, 2010 by Marc Cesare

This week Cruise Car of Sarasota, FL introduced their new All American line of 15 solar electric LSVs.?? The vehicles are produced in the US and feature up to 50% recycled or certified re-manufactured parts and materials.?? The All American Line is GSA Schedule approved and Cruise Car recently shipped 30 All American LSV???s to the U.S. Navy base in San Diego, CA.?? The LSVs, built on an aluminum chassis, can be purchased with or without solar and can accommodate from 2 to 14 passengers. The vehicles are also eligible for solar tax credits.?? Learn more:?? PRweb.com

Company News Briefs

Posted on October 6, 2010 by Marc Cesare

Carrus BV buys golf cars and parts – Carrus BV of the Netherlands signed an agreement with a European supplier to purchase 3,300 used golf cars as well as thousands of parts and accessories.?? Carrus is a brand-independent supplier of top brand cars, parts and accessories, and serves various European markets, including the leisure sector, golf courses and industry.?? Learn more:?? Golfcarnews.com

ZAP truck & van qualify for tax credit – ZAP recently announced that their electric truck and van have qualified for a ten percent federal tax credit, up to a maximum of $2,500, under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.?? Vehicles purchased through 2011 will be eligible for the tax credit.?? Learn more:?? Autorevolution.com

Kawasaki announces new consumer credit program – This month, Kawasaki, in partnership with GE Money, is rolling out a new consumer credit program for purchasing Kawasaki’s motorcycles, ATVs, utility vehicles and watercrafts.?? Learn more:?? Marketwatch.com

RMD Technologies selects seat supplier for electric vehicles – RMD Technologies of San Marcos, CA has chosen PRP Seats of Murrieta, CA to provide seats for their small electric vehicles.?? RMDT’s core business is providing electronics recycling services to businesses, state and federal agencies.?? However in 2007 they decided to branch out into developing an?? alternative energy vehicle using a large percentage of materials recycled from electronic waste.?? Their electric utility vehicle is expected to hit the market at the end of 2010 or beginning of 2011. Learn more:?? Cleanenergynews.blogspot.com

Marines Continuing Research On Robotic UTV For Troop Support

Posted on September 30, 2010 by Marc Cesare

The US Marines are continuing efforts to develop a cargo-carrying robotic “mule” meant to accompany ground troops on foot patrols and into combat.?? While other branches of the military have had difficulty keeping costs down, the Marines are trying to use off-the-shelf hardware to be more cost efficient.

Known as the Ground Unmanned Support Surrogate (GUSS) mule, it is being jointly designed by the Marines’ Warfighting Lab, Virginia-based tech firm TORC Technologies and students at Virginia Tech.?? Vehicle prototypes are based on a stock MZ700 6×6 utility vehicle from Polaris.?? In July four prototypes reportedly performed well in early stage testing using “realistic training events”.?? Learn more:?? Flightglobal.com

CARB Increases Rebate For Zero Emission Agricultural UTVs

Posted on September 26, 2010 by Marc Cesare

The California Air Resources Board (CARB) recently increased the rebates for zero emission utility vehicles used for agricultural operations from 15% to 25% of MSRP.?? CARB funds the Zero-Emission Agricultural Utility Terrain Vehicle (Agricultural UTV) Rebate Program which is administered statewide by the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District (SJVAPCD).?? Vehicles that are eligible for the rebates include electric powered models from Bad Boy Enterprises, Barefoot Motors, John Deere, Polaris and ZAP.?? According to the program’s website, rebates are given on a first come, first serve basis.?? A total of $990,000 has been allocated for the program of which only about $20,000 for 12 vehicles has been distributed to date.?? Learn more:?? Valleyair.org

UK’s ePower Trucks Launches New Vehicle

Posted on September 24, 2010 by Marc Cesare

ePower Truck XT320E

ePower Trucks based in the UK recently launched the ePower Truck XT320E, a battery powered vehicle with a 1,000 kg payload.?? The vehicle features a 13kw battery pack and an estimated range of 60 miles.?? Battery packs can be swapped out using a forklift and an additional battery pack can be added to extend the vehicle’s range. The vehicle costs an estimated $47,000 US.

The company expects to expand the product line in the future with three more electric trucks.?? ePower Trucks is a division of LiftSafe, the lifting and handling equipment supplier and specialises in the supply of golf buggies, electric trucks, electric vehicles, electric tugs and a wide range of utility vehicles.?? Learn more:?? Logisticsmanager.com

Kawasaki & John Deere Reach Production Milestones

Posted on September 23, 2010 by Marc Cesare

A Teryx 750 FI 4x4 Sport is the 3,000,000th vehicle produced at Kawasaki's Lincoln, NE plant

The 3,000,000th vehicle recently rolled off the assembly line of Kawasaki Motors Manufacturing’s facility in Lincoln, NE.?? In this case the vehicle was a Teryx 750 FI 4×4 Sport.?? Over the 36 years of operation the plant has produced motorcycles, snowmobiles, jet skis, ATVs, UTVs industrial robots and rail cars.???? Learn more:?? Motorcycle-usa.com

Meanwhile John Deere’s Horicon, WI plant just produced the company’s 500,000th Gator utility vehicle.?? The XUV825i, the fastest and most powerful Gator yet, rolled off the line seventeen years after the first Gator was produced in 1993.?? Learn more:?? ATVmagonline.com

New Polaris Offerings For 2011

Posted on September 9, 2010 by Marc Cesare

Between family vacation and the launch of our latest STOV study It’s been a few weeks since my last post so there have been some developments in the market to catch up on.?? I’ll start with the introduction by Polaris of their 2011 product line.?? Despite a down economy they have been able take market share and be aggressive in the product development with new vehicles targeting specific market segments and improvements to existing models.?? New vehicles include the RANGER 500 EFI, RANGER CREW 500 and RANGER Diesel. The latter targets the agriculture segment where diesel is the preferred fuel.

Enhancements to current product offerings include increased power to RANGER XP 800 and RANGER XP 800 EPS, and power steering on the Polaris Pursuit Camo RANGER CREW 800. All 2011 RANGER products, with the exception of RANGER EV, will be outfitted with easy-buckle driver and passenger safety nets.

The RANGER RZR line will have even more razor sharp performance with a new look that increases cooling airflow by 29 percent, provides a 30 percent improvement in range and delivers increased performance as a result. The RANGER RZR 800 will receive six percent more power with the addition of the 800 H.O. engine and be more trail-friendly with new rear rack extenders. ??RANGER RZR S 800 will feature new big bore shocks, be the first stock vehicle to feature ITP 900 XCT tires and will be available in two premium painted editions along with a standard edition, which will receive a new lower price. For razor sharp performance for four, Polaris will offer the RANGER RZR 4 800in two Robby Gordon packages, a painted black and red limited edition and a power steering version that includes Robby Gordon-inspired graphics.

The company also launched the civilian version of their EV LSV which originally targeted the government market and added new parts and accessories for vehicles across the product line.?? Learn more:?? Motorsportsnewswire.wordpress.com

Polaris to Realign Manufacturing Operations (eon.businesswire.com)

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