If you let me run the Arctic Cat off road div, here is what I would do. BTW they would fire me for thinking outside the Minnesota bubble in a month!
As bad as dealing with the Minnesota Mafia was, they have systematically purged almost all of them, and the stupidity has been imported from Augusta,
Georgia, the base of EZ-Go. I never dealt with bigger idiots in almost 40 years of business, including several other industries.
First their product line up is horrible. They got ride if the second best selling UTV, in their line up, the Havoc. It was a cross between sport/utility which is a fast growing segment. Both Polaris and Can Am are fully invested in this market. But Arctic Cat kept the Prowler which at best is a EZGO meets Bad Boy Buggy golf cart made for getting you to the ice fishing hole. BTW Textron owns all three of the brands mentioned!
Yes the Prowler has it’s place, but you need more depth to be in this market.
Being the second best selling unit is not saying much when you aren't selling anything. Yes, it's that bad. The Havoc was a huge flop, BTW. It was a Stampede with longer arms, and a bit more HP. The Stampede was too heavy a platform to start with, and was a bench seat machine. Instead of reworking the cab, they just removed the bench seat, and bolted in a couple bucket seats. This made the seating position extremely awkward, too high, and had terrible leg room. The heat infiltrating the firewall was a big problem. And at rollout they had huge clutch problems, thanks again to the disaster that is Team Industries. We were hoping for a General competitor, and it was not even a half-assed attempt. The Prowler, which should have had a different name, is meant to compete with the Mules, Gators, and Kubotas, and that market is bigger than you think. Look at the market share chart below. It should have had a Weber, as well, but they went with the Chi-Com Chery engine, because it is quiet, and it's worth noting that Kawasaki and Deere also use it.
Before introducing any more product I would have my Reps go back and beg and scrap to get dealers to sign back up with Arctic Cat. We would not force you to commit to buying machines that do not fit your market or region. We would honor and support dealer claims. Work on keeping a 10% overage on all parts for repairs & warranty claims. We would give you volume discounts and reward our dealers with a star program that promotes and features top dealers. We would also want to be at dealers with competing brands. I don’t want a XX next to a golf cart or a John Deere Gator.
Not many dealers would be foolish enough to take another bite of that poison apple.
I would commit to marketing / advertising programming that actually promotes the the products. Both online and boots on the ground.
Now back to the sport market. I’d leave most of the XX alone to start with. The platform is great for the segment it’s in. I think allot of the negativity or thoughts of not being Turbo’ed is due to lack of knowledge or understanding. Not saying a turbo vs would not be an improvement, but all the other brands have N/A cars and they do not seem to get the backlash the XX got for not being Turbo’ed and those cars are selling. Plus you would have to know what contracts are in place and for how long, before changes could be made to the XX.
What I would do is offer a better trim and options package that follows the current market. The base trim is perfect, as is at it brings customers in at great $20K price point. The second trim I would add a comfort and color package. Offer it in two color choices (decal kits) but offer it with the roof, upgraded seats, storage box etc. and bump the price point up $2K. Then on my top trim you would get the 2nd trim features, but you get the Garmin Connection system and a adjustable smart Shock system. Again maybe bump the price another $2500. This would still keep you in the Talon special edition trim price range. If they could prove the XX does have a market for a RC edition with, you could release RC trim that comes with bumpers, high clearance front a-arms, winch, better skids.
Only the EZ-Go morons are stupid enough to say there is not enough market for a turbo, and four-seater. It is complete bullCrap.
Long term Id look to phase out the Yamaha engine and explore using the engine that was in the Havoc. It was a Weber 2 cylinder engine. At a 1000cc produced 100hp, but have been told that engine was detuned and could easily do 130 hp NA. Turbo it and you could easily be in RZR turbo power range. The Weber engine is a German designed engine that is big in the marine industry, and used on tenders. It’s designed for harsh environments. The guys who know these engines speak highly of them and guess what? Textron bought Weber! They are now called Textron Motors. Plus being that it was in the Havoc, it’s been CARB certified before for a UTV. Being a 2 cylinder brings back the torque the Yamaha lacks and can be run at 6-7000 rpms. Like the new Speed engine the Weber has features like press in cylinder sleeves. This is a motor I’d look to put in all the Arctic Cat UTV line up.
We were hoping they would leverage Weber, but they failed on that count, too.
