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Will Polaris Get Back on Top? 2020 Predictions
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Yes, the title is a like “click bait” is a sense, and maybe a little harsh on the Big P. They still sell the most sport SxS’s, and still have an amazing product line. And yes, I’m a little harsh on the Pro XP, and I haven’t even driven it yet, so take it for what it’s worth. This goal is to talk about value, what you’re getting for your money, so that you can make the best purchase decision possible with your money! And the market options have grown so much, that it can be quite confusing to decipher, it you are really up in the air, or considering more than one option.
At this moment in time, it feels like Can Am has the momentum, and Polaris is in uncharted territory, competition wise. The good news, is that Polaris makes most all of their operating profit in offroad vehicles, so I can assure you they will do what it takes to defend their market share, they didn’t get to the top for no reason.
Checkout the video, let us know what you think, and if you agree, send this to the Polaris marketing team! Haha we are just passionate enthusiasts that want the sport to keep evolving, and we have a never ending thirst for power, suspension and everything in between.
Transcription:
What’s that my Nickel sent to Pokhara off-road and today we’re talking Polaris what do they need to do to be on top in the side-by-side market for 2020 so 2019 was interesting year for Polaris they came under a lot more competition with releases from Honda and Kawasaki in the non turbo market can-am stepped up their game even more and later in the year at their big dealer meeting they launched their new Pro XP chassis which all-new vehicle but unfortunately was met with a pretty lukewarm response a lot of people didn’t like how it looked the pricing was pretty high and it was the premium version in terms of price point but it only came available in a 64 inch option which for a lot of the high-end customers particularly us in the southwest we always associated premium in high-end now with the 72 inch version because we’ve had the x3 and the turn west for the last few years so what I’m told Polaris the pro XP didn’t sell that well and now they’ve seen what’s gone on and that can make adjustments as we move into 2020 and beyond on the bright side for Polaris they had a lot of success in racing again they’re under a lot more competition with can-am but they end up winning the overall championship for the best in the desert series and I think a lot of that racing has led to a lot of technology and improvements that have filtered right into the pro XP as well as Canon with their x3 models so a lot of you aren’t ever gonna race but we love all the benefits of belts that don’t break mirrors off and cooler running temperatures more horsepower higher top speed and racing is really where all of this comes from with technology with them working on their CVT the big topic for a long time is one of these cars getting away from CVT transmissions a way to go but I think with Canon and Polaris being so competitive they’re just going to keep investing more and making the CVT systems run better run cooler more efficient it’s a really good way to skin the cat if you do burn a belt it’s only a couple hundred dollars you can clutch and we gear it for only a couple hundred dollars really good benefits for the average customer and if you think about it the performance is pretty exceptional I mean a lot of these race cars are weighing in easily over 1,800 pounds and Phil Martin who won the best no desert Vegas Torino this year he drove his No Limit x3 to first place which was about 23rd overall and he was less than an hour and 31 minutes slower than the fastest trophy truck competitor Bryce Menzies who’s Hindman $800,000 four-wheel drive trophy truck so I mean a lot of people are still gonna make fun of belts but what more could you ask for I mean these vehicles are doing over a hundred miles an hour way down race cars which are heavier than the stock car is most all of us drive and we’re talking that level of speed and performance with no belt failures so in my opinion that’s amazing those are only gonna get better thanks to the racing thanks to the competition thanks to the aardeen development of these companies Polaris made some big gains of pro XP is significantly better than the turbo West and the turbo version that it’s replaced and good for all of us for all of our day-to-day off-roading these things get pushed harder than they ever have and thanks to this technology from racing they’re holding up better so starting off it’s pretty obvious that Polaris needs to launch a pro XP and a 72 inch wide version I think they need to do that without increasing the price now I know the corporate bean counters are not gonna agree with me on that one and it would probably be a huge profitability hit if they were to do so but if you think about it at the pro XP with 72 inches wide right now there’s still less horsepower than an x3 it’s not near as good-looking as an X ray doesn’t have the shock stroke and yes it does have ride command and live valve suspension which is really cool technology the interior is much improved over the old models but I don’t know if the customer is going to buy a 72 inch y Pro xB if it’s thousands more than an x3 195 horsepower are our version so Polaris I think you really gotta sharpen the pencil I think you might see the turbo s go away they might change a lot of price points up when you do see a 72 inch wide off and you’re gonna see even more options more different flavors harder for dealers to stock all these models it makes even more confusing for the customer than it ends up being a lot more overlap so I think something’s got to give I think you need to get rid of the turbo s roll out the pro XP and 72 and then make sure you have some price points 25,000 and below so you’re keeping customers excited next up the pro XP needs to get the horsepower increase to over 200 now especially if they did it first I think it would definitely have some punch to be the first OEM to hit the mythical to reverse power mark I mean when you got 181 195 15 horsepower isn’t as big of a deal as it was a couple years ago we only had 90 110 but I still think horsepower by far and large is what sells these guys like bragging to their buddies that they’ve got the highest horsepower model available and well personally I’m not a big horsepower guy I think it’s cool I do think it will give the pro XP some extra street cred it’ll make it look more appealing and more exciting you know probably wouldn’t cost that much for players just to bump it up and beat a horsepower King of 2020 now I know I said that I think the turbo s will go away but if they cannot offer a 72-inch version of the Pro XP at around a $25,000 price point for four seater 22 23,000 on a two-seater they definitely need to keep the turbo s velocity model I think it’s really important that we have a value option cheaper 72 inch wide I think that’s where the markets headed I think there’s a lot of people that have sixty four inch wide vehicles that want to upgrade or they want to be around that price point and have all performance benefits of 72 so Polaris don’t get rid of turbo s or if you do the products P’s definitely got to be at a value price point no matter what Polaris does where they keep the turbo s so they get rid of it all the pro XP models need to come stock with 32 inch tires this is their premiere model like I said it’s a lukewarm response I’m talking about items here that are gonna really make this car stand out more in the crowd and change the perception of what most customers have already and adding a 72 inch wide version will help significantly preventing the price from getting sky-high will help and I think offering some stock 32 inch tires like the Triple S is a big deal let’s all those customers know that this thing is beefy off the showroom floor all of us are pretty much more than 32 inch tires at least we’ve got 33 on our turbo twins guys are on 35 s and even more another environment so pro XP if it’s gonna be the new evolution for Polaris RZR biggest brand most sales in the game you guys need to step up and put 32 inch tires on all pro x PS that roll off the line for 21 model year so not to leave out the sixty four inch market with the Polaris XP 1000 and turbo those are awesome vehicles they have a lot of value for the money and those are a huge portion of Polaris as overall sales so I would like to see a few of the higher-end features from either the pro XP turbo s trickle down into these models whether that’s updated seats some real four-point harnesses certain things that are going to add some value so that that customer I’m spending that money on the 1000 on the turbo they’re a little bit more of a value customer they still won’t have a great experience have a safe experience I’d like to see some of these features just trickle down and make it into those so they did have a little bit of a refresh with the new front fascia and rear fascia but by far and large those vehicles been the exact same since late 2013 so little extra won’t hurt and interior would be a good place to start with those seats that we’ve all come to grow and not really like finally Polaris what I think you should do is launch a two-seat version of a really high-end edition call it a racer edition this needs to be your peak branding marketing flagship model kind of like what Ken M has done brilliantly with the XR C and in general when can-am started off with the x3 they started at the very top and then kind of work their way down I think Polaris has gone the opposite way and players why not make five hundred or a thousand just to see how they go make them a premium price point I don’t even care if it’s 33 $35,000 72 inch wide comstock with 33 inch tires maybe even come stock with 35 inch tires let all the other OEMs know that you’re not playing around this will be the model that everyone will talk about you know it will really influence and change the perception of the pro XP I think in the broader market and make the pro XP look a lot cooler I’m sure that they have the ability to do without adding too much to the car in terms of overall price but I think that that would be amazing do some really cool colors one-off color so everybody knows that when that guy has this new racer Edition right he’s got the top dog really just kind of stepped up maybe change the look of the doors adding a full door matching with a nice roof on the stock cage or changing the design of that cage just give it a little bit different of a look a little extra panache I think that would go a long way I think that’s the one that players can point to and say hey look we’ve got this top dog that’s better than anything comes with the biggest tires 72 inch wide more horsepower I mean guys what more can we offer so that’s I think they should do get away from the bean-counting appeal to us passion enthusiasts I mean if you’re a dirt biker you know KTM home to have factory editions they don’t make a lot of these but they’re awesome you know they sell out right away the dealers love them they make a lot of money on them and it’s a really cool branding piece so I think Polaris needs that I think they’ve been missing on that trying to like slowly edge the way up to the high-performance market and going with the bulk of sales and a little bit lower end of the market so Polaris launched something really cool over the top it’s gonna get people really excited all your Polaris faithful and be a great arguing piece when people talk about what’s better so that’s what we think Polaris needs to do to be on top for 2020 comment below let us know what you think if you like the content please like and subscribe it got a lot more coming your way.
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