It could be said with a sly smile that Polaris, parent company of Victory Motorcycles didn't mind being overshadowed yesterday by that other American motorcycle manufacturer, Harley- Davidson. At least this time.

Polaris Industries, like many major companies released their third quarter financial reports on Thursday. As with other motorcycle manufacturers, its Victory division suffered slower sales as the company as a whole looked to cost-saving measures and more efficient operating procedures to shore up the bottom line.

The sales of Polaris' On-road division, which today primarily consists of Victory motorcycles, decreased 56 percent during the third quarter of 2009 when compared to the same period in 2008. Compared to where Victory Motorcycles were this time last year the division shipped 53 percent less motorcycles in the first nine months of 2009 than they did in 2008. That equates to 38,081 fewer motorcycles leaving the Polaris factories.

The company points to the decrease of shipped motorcycles to reflect a continuing planned reduction of shipments to dealers in North America, while at the same time increasing promotional activities during the third quarter to assist dealers’ efforts in further reducing their inventory levels.

Polaris noted yesterday that the overall motorcycle industry retail sales environment continued to be weak during the third quarter 2009, with industry wide North American retail sales of heavyweight cruiser and touring motorcycles over 1400cc decreasing in the high twenty percent range compared to the same period last year. However, Victory retail sales to consumers declined more than the industry wide sales during the 2009 third quarter.
 
But Victory Motorcycles hopes to reinvigorate retail sales by adding personnel and resources, streamlining the product line-up, increasing promotions and expanding its international market presence. The company has even rolled out two new touring motorcycles for model year 2010, the Cross Country and Cross Roads models, both targeted at the large touring motorcycle market segment.

Like many motorcycle manufacturers, Victory are looking to the budget-minded buyer, adding several value oriented models.

“Our third quarter 2009 results exceeded our expectations and clearly reflect the strength of our business model and our Polaris team,” commented Scott Wine, Chief Executive Officer of Polaris. “While the economic environment remains challenging, we continue to take the long view and invest in the business for future growth and profitability. During the third quarter, we launched and obtained orders for a broad and exciting array of new products, and also continued to drive our focus on cost and productivity to generate 160 basis points of gross margin expansion. Our operational excellence initiatives drove reductions in both total North American dealer inventory levels and total factory inventory levels compared to last year’s third quarter. In short, we are effectively executing our operating plan.”