Fresh from corporate results that pleased motorcycle enthusiasts as well as the financial markets, Polaris Industries, the parent company of Victory, went on a buying spree.

Following a recent trend among motorcycle manufacturers who have made their name in the cruiser market, Polaris has acquired swissauto Powersports. Based in Burgdorf, Switzerland, swissauto is known for designing and developing high-performance and high-efficiency engines and innovative vehicles.

Officially Polaris views the acquisition as an opportunity to strengthen the company's global engine and vehicle design capability. But the move allows Polaris to pull up alongside Viper Motorcycles on a road to performance engine development.
 
Harley-Davidson has started a similar engineering road trip but it ended abruptly with the selling of MV Agusta less than a year after buying the Italian motorcycle manufacturer.
Polaris is no stranger to the work of swissauto. The engine maker who's core capabilities are in development, prototyping and manufacturing of internal combustion engines also designed the high-performance, four-stroke Weber engine that Polaris uses in several current snowmobile models.  
 
In addition to recreational vehicle engines, swissauto also has a strong tradition of developing top-tier racing engines for World Motorcycle GP. The company’s V4, 2-stroke, 500cc engine drove 29 wins, 41 Poles and three World Championships during the 1990s. A completely new racing bike was also developed by swissauto and competed aggressively against larger Japanese OEMs during the late 1990s. This bike achieved the pole position twice during it’s first season of racing and ranked in the top ten several times.

Polaris acquired the powersports portion of swissauto and will continue to operate in the current swissauto facility located in Burgdorf, Switzerland. The automotive division of swissauto was not involved in this acquisition and will continue to operate autonomously.

Many experts note that the acquisition will not only strengthen Polaris’ global engine and vehicle design capability but also enhance the company’s European presence.

“Swissauto has industry leading powertrain design and development capabilities and a strong understanding of turbo-charging and high-performance engines,” said Polaris Chief Executive Officer, Scott Wine. “This acquisition directly supports our stated objectives to be the best in powersports and a global market leader. ”