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11:20 Eastern so you still have an hour and a half to wait...
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saddlebag said:
Around here we have two dealers. I haven't seen a Cross Roads on either floor since I bought mine in 2011 until within the last couple of months one of them got one of those new all black ones.

Earlier this year one of the dealers had 3 old Visions he finally blew out on "manger specials." He deals and has gotten rid of most if not all of his older inventory. The other guy might deal, but he doesn't make it as obvious that he's willing to. He's still got several old bikes collecting dust. Boardwalk, Highball, Vegas, Vision, Judge as well as a newer XCT and XC.

As I understand it, their revenue is down from last quarter. It's not because their bikes suddenly got cheaper, but because they sold fewer of them (and it's prime selling season). Undoubtedly, because Indian is canabilzing sales of Victory owners and potential repeat customers. Take a gander and see how many Indian owners were former Vic guys sometime.
I travel for work and have talked to 4 Indian dealers, all of them said at least 80% of trades were Harley. That leaves 20% all other brands. If Indian is cannabalizing Victory...it's minimal. As for your assertion that they're selling fewer bikes...that's illogical. Q2 2014 has Cross 8-Balls that Q2 2013 did not. Q2 2014 had 13k dollar Gunners that 2013 did not. If there were any 2014 Jackpot sales...16 grand. 2013 Jackpots...18+ grand.
 

The Indian Motorcycle Community website is posting that photo claiming it's the legit new Scout...neat looking scoot IMHO..
 

iabob said:
Yes, I agree that they are very good at making product, but suck at building "heritage". They suck so much at it that they gave up trying and just bought it instead. But think about what kind of opportunity that is. Imagine you are the CEO. Victory is profitable, Cross bikes are flying off the shelf. And now you don't need to try and placate the heritage crowd, that base is covered already.
The way Polaris posts its numbers, it's an assumption that the Victory division is profitable. For some reason I don't remember Polaris publicly stating they are making money on Victory.

I'll add, that I don't know if I would say "Cross bikes are flying off the shelf." Instead, I'd say the Cross Country is doing well, compared to other Victory models. If the Cross bikes were truly flying off the shelves, they would still be offering a Cross Roads.

iabob said:
The only way I see this as anything other than a huge opportunity is if Indian is so wildly successful that they need the manufacturing capacity devoted to Indian. A very unlikely scenario. It takes around 3 years to develop product. Victory will be fine.
I think we've learned where Polaris is focusing its efforts, and that's with Indian, not Victory. This is evidenced by the way Polaris handled the backrest/luggage rack recall as well as other Victory-related issues.

Considering it takes around three years to develop a new motorcycle and looking at the leaked photos of the alleged Scout, do you have a doubt in your mind that bike was originally scheduled to be a Victory? If Indian sales dwarf Victory sales, production capacity will go to what's selling and Victory could suffer because of that. This theory could explain why the Victory lineup has been reduced as the capacity is going to Indian. Yeah, you can talk about plant expansion, but the way they are targeting H-D with Indian, Polaris's lean manufacturing techniques could easily see the expanded capacity going to Indian. I truly hope I'm wrong on this and Victory doesn't go the way of watercraft or the Polaris Breeze.
 

iabob said:
Give it an hour or so and I think you'll see Indian is going to compete with the Sporty and Bolt. As I mentioned earlier "Vic sales down mid single digits"...that is revenue, not unit sales or even profit. Victory's prices are lower, of course revenue is lower. How many 2012 or 2013 leftover Cross Country's do you see at dealers? I see left over Cross Roads, boardwalks, Judges, Hammers, and Jackpots. Gunners, Highballs, XC's, XCT's...they are selling very well. Right now, 2014, guys are buying baggers. Obviously Polaris is going after that market with the left and right hands. New for 2015...Magnums AND Roadmasters.
There's a lot of assumptions in your post. Remember, Polaris does not release the sales by category or product, so we have no idea how many Victory models have been sold.
 

The rumors were right and the price is RIGHT @ $10,999
Winner!

http://www.indianmotorcycle.com/en-us
 

It look like they used the "CORE" frame that had been shared a few years back, dropped in a water-cooled engine and BAM!
 

Like the modern retro look, I was expecting this bike to be in the Victory line up and for the Indian was expecting more cues from the original scout, nothing like it but it looks great. I have a funny feeling this may be the step child of the Indian line in the current Indian owners eyes??? Hope it does well.
 
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