Wonder Why there are fewer AC dealers

J

jrsnow

Free Member

Nov 27, 2007

33

1

8

Nebraska

• Aug 14, 2014

• #1

Found this article that may explain why AC dealers are few and far in between

http://www.dealernews.com/dealernews/article/baird-survey-arctic-cat-dealers-have-bleak-outlook

 

Hardass

Well-known member

Lifetime Membership

Nov 26, 2007

4,013

514

113

Troy Montana

• Aug 14, 2014

• #2

Polaris out performs Arcticcat in the engine category?

 

S

snowmobiler

Well-known member

Nov 26, 2001

8,107

3,922

113

• Aug 14, 2014

• #3

maybe one dealer said that /\ after cat took all his new sleds back?.

 

D

Deven07

Free Member

Oct 14, 2013

50

15

8

north MI

• Aug 15, 2014

• #4

For the last 25 years there has always been at least three times as many if not more Arctic Cat dealers where I live as there has any other dealer. Right now there are 5 AC shops within a 60 mile radius to Polaris's 2. Yamaha doesn't even have a dealership that only sells that one brand. One Ski Doo that doesn't sell anthing but. I see the same thing going on with the car dealers. Big multi-dealers are buying up the little guys or pushing them out because they can live within the lower margins, the little guys can't.

I was talking to the local Polaris dealership owner last winter, he said he has to give them away sell the amount of sleds Polaris wants to let him stay a dealer and to keep up with the multi-brand Polaris shop.

AC isn't going anywhere, do you know any other brand that has the kind of loyalty that it has? Ask yourself how many of your friends have dumped AC for Yamaha or Polaris or heaven forbid Ski Dont? Not many.

 

R

Ride_The_Rockies

Well-known member

Jun 19, 2002

248

109

43

Utah

• Aug 15, 2014

• #5

Hardass said:

Polaris out performs Arcticcat in the engine category?

Click to expand...

I believe the comment was made about the Polaris UTV engine not the snowmobile engine. In my opinion Cat has a better snowmobile engine but Polaris's UTV engine is a lot better than Cat. The new Polaris RZR 1000 is pretty amazing.

 

S

SnoDay

Active member

Jan 3, 2013

49

26

18

Minnesota

• Aug 15, 2014

• #6

Hardass said:

Polaris out performs Arcticcat in the engine category?

Click to expand...

These dealers are talking about sleds and ATV/UTV. I don't know much about the ATV/UTV stuff but maybe Polaris motors are better there?

 

Stack

Well-known member

Staff member

Lifetime Membership

Premium Member

Nov 29, 2007

1,173

609

113

Midwest

• Aug 17, 2014

• #7

Many of the concerns referenced such as the amount of inventory, low margins, poor rebates, poor financing offers,etc.... have been verbalized for awhile now. I certainly know in my area and headed north that there are Far less Cat dealers than when we really started riding in the late 90's: I noticed most of this in the last 10 years, and this could be due to other factors such as poor winters, poor economy, etc...
I agree when you look at offers from the competitors many times I find a comparable sled for less money, sometimes significant. I have great Cat dealers, and find myself loyal to Cat, but I see the concern on where things are headed with their business model.

One can only hope the changes at the top can help right the ship and get them back on track.

Stack

 

D

Deep Powder Guy

Banned

Nov 27, 2013

1,962

917

113

Mountain States

• Aug 17, 2014

• #8

It's a competitive market place and Polaris play a pretty good game of hardball with all there recreational vehicles.

DPG

 

2

2010Catman

Free Member

Jun 3, 2013

95

12

8

34

• Aug 17, 2014

• #9

Gossip all you want cat is and will always be around! Just because they had an Obama like leader for a while they were miss guided, now he has been removed we will carry on our way once again in the front of the pack

 

L

Laundryboy

Well-known member

Lifetime Membership

Oct 31, 2012

1,247

313

83

• Aug 17, 2014

• #10

They sure treated otm like cr*p. I'd have to think twice before buying any of their products just for that reason.

 

Last edited by a moderator: Aug 22, 2014

R

RCR3

Well-known member

Nov 14, 2009

572

159

43

Lava Hot Springs, ID

• Aug 22, 2014

• #11

How about CR*P dealers I don't even have a good AC dealer near me!

 

Last edited by a moderator: Aug 22, 2014

backcountryislife

Well-known member

Lifetime Membership

Nov 26, 2007

10,893

7,413

113

Dumont/Breckenridge, CO

• Aug 25, 2014

• #12

I thought the motor comment was pretty funny... but I guess the rzr does seem to do rather well compared to their sleds

As to how they treat dealers... anyone who is friends with a dealer knows that's been that way for a while, there are a number of things they do to dealers that are hurting value, and causing the good dealers to drop them... or in the case of OTS... the other way around.


All that said... hard to even question that they've got the best motor on the snow still. I sure hope they never go anywhere.

 

S

Snowmaker10

Free Member

Sep 18, 2013

203

31

28

42

• Sep 12, 2014

• #13

Have you ever been to Minnesota? Towns with 800 people have sick arctic cat dealers. Nebraska isn't really a snowmobile state.

 

zachman33

Active member

Lifetime Membership

Feb 19, 2011

179

33

28

32

Washington

• Sep 13, 2014

• #14

Up here in my area dealers are giving up there arctic cat dealer license because arctic cat is forcing them to carry so much inventory in all categories, and parts too. The little dealerships that only sell 15 sleds a year or 10-15 ATV/UTVs can't handle the overhead cost pressure that Cat is forcing them to have. Hopefully the new guys in change this system before we lose more dealers.



Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk