Would you buy this?

NIKAL

Well-known member
May 5, 2021
906
1,169
What would it take to sell your current UTV or UTV you have on order?

Would you buy a UTV based on the Arctic Cat Wild Cat XX, with minor body & cockpit change improvements, that comes in a 2 or 4 seat configuration. It would have a 1000cc, 3 cylinder low boost turbo for reliability, that produces 145hp, & 100 lb of torque. Standard 2 speed CVT trans. Same brakes as the XX but with a hydraulic park lock parking break. Track width 70-72 inches. Fox 2.5 Podium QS3 shocks with 18-20 inches of wheel travel. Stock 32 inch tires on 15 inch wheels. WB 95 & 120. Weight would be around 1850 lbs for the 2 seat & 2150 for the 4 seat.

It would only come in one trim, with no extra electronics options like the current XX. (KISS) Painted body color options are Blue or Red. All chassis’s and suspension color is Black.

There would be a dealer network that you buy and service the vehicle at. The car would come with a 1 year Powertrain warranty, and 6 months bumper to bumper warranty.

2 seat MSRP $22,900
4 seat MSRP $24,900


Would this interest you and potentially make you sell what you have for this hypothetical UTV at this price point?
 
For me I want the best and while my budget is not unlimited I would spend 50k before I would spend 25k to have that little of HP but Glamis is a HP sucking area may be a less of a issue for a hard pack guy
 
The AC WC was not the greatest design, suspension was heading in the right direction at that time...but everything else leaked oil, looked cheap, etc. I can only imagine the MFG to be another south Asian knock off type.

Why would I buy what is already available from proven Canadian and even better Japanese (they only need to add some hp and wider suspension) MFGs?


No, is my answer.
 
What would it take to sell your current UTV or UTV you have on order?

Would you buy a UTV based on the Arctic Cat Wild Cat XX, with minor body & cockpit change improvements, that comes in a 2 or 4 seat configuration. It would have a 1000cc, 3 cylinder low boost turbo for reliability, that produces 145hp, & 100 lb of torque. Standard 2 speed CVT trans. Same brakes as the XX but with a hydraulic park lock parking break. Track width 70-72 inches. Fox 2.5 Podium QS3 shocks with 18-20 inches of wheel travel. Stock 32 inch tires on 15 inch wheels. WB 95 & 120. Weight would be around 1850 lbs for the 2 seat & 2150 for the 4 seat.

It would only come in one trim, with no extra electronics options like the current XX. (KISS) Painted body color options are Blue or Red. All chassis’s and suspension color is Black.

There would be a dealer network that you buy and service the vehicle at. The car would come with a 1 year Powertrain warranty, and 6 months bumper to bumper warranty.

2 seat MSRP $22,900
4 seat MSRP $24,900


Would this interest you and potentially make you sell what you have for this hypothetical UTV at this price point?
As a Pro R owner, no chance.

This sounds like the CF Moto
 
I have a XX and want the conversion kit, ha ha!
I cannot and would not spend $30k on a new SxS, so yes the price point is at my maximum budget.
I also recall back in 2006 when I thought $10k for a Rhino was absurd plus the fact people thru an extra $30-40k at them.
What you've described is a Speed bandit and diablo with less power and less body/interior.

I'd like to hear more about that drive train, cuz that's where I see my XX failing me. The Yamaha engine is fine but the electronics and transaxle/diffs are going to be extinct when I need replacements. Is this drivetrain an known manufacture with lots of support and stock of parts? I'm always amazed at TEAM with all the various versions of transaxles and diffs, why haven't they lead the market to a couple model types and make the manufactures mate their motors to those options?

How many units dos this manufacture plan to sell, realistically? Like the XX and Speed 3-5 thousand units max?
 
My concern with owning any equipment is the ready availability of parts. I won’t gamble on a new company when other established companies are closing their doors.
This exactly!! The great part of owning a mainstream sxs is parts availability. I can pull up a diagram on RMATV and have parts at my door in a few days.
 
From an established manufacturer with name recognition? Given the recent Speed debacle, this an important factor.
 
The AC WC was not the greatest design, suspension was heading in the right direction at that time...but everything else leaked oil, looked cheap, etc. I can only imagine the MFG to be another south Asian knock off type.

Why would I buy what is already available from proven Canadian and even better Japanese (they only need to add some hp and wider suspension) MFGs?


No, is my answer.
This was not in reference to the original Wild Cat, but in reference to the wild Cat XX platform. The XX chassis, roll cage and suspension design is very good and from a geometry standpoint is better then the radius rod design rear suspension the other brands are doing.

I would hope the car would not be a knock off, but someone would build upon the foundation.
 
As a Pro R owner, no chance.

This sounds like the CF Moto
This would not be a direct competitor to the Pro R’s and Mav R’s. Those are the top of the food chain vehicles, and their price points show it.

This hypothetical UTV would be competing with brands in the low to mid $20K range, as that’s still a very strong market share nationwide. Polaris sells more Rangers annually than RZR’s.
 
My concern with owning any equipment is the ready availability of parts. I won’t gamble on a new company when other established companies are closing their doors.
This exactly!! The great part of owning a mainstream sxs is parts availability. I can pull up a diagram on RMATV and have parts at my door in a few days.
From an established manufacturer with name recognition? Given the recent Speed debacle, this an important factor.

100% and that would be the hope that a established powersport company would buy the AC brand, and their foundation and network already in place would make getting parts, getting dealer support and overall trying to grow the product better.

With the current owners of AC, they never cared about the brand, put zero effort into building it, and actually put EZGO to oversee it. I would hope if it’s bought it would not get dissolved and actually try to grow the brand back. In the snow sled industry, AC is still a player and has a very loyal 2/3 generation customer base. Kinda like Ford & Chevy but with snowmobiles.
 
Never - I was one of the idiots that bought an original artic cat 1000 with the leaking case issue. Case had a hand engraved number and a huge wad of black silicone to hide the leak - which tells me they documented every engine that had this issue...Never again will I buy something from Arctic Cat, or anything related to that company - total disrespect and unethical BS they did to me and countless others.
 
Never - I was one of the idiots that bought an original artic cat 1000 with the leaking case issue. Case had a hand engraved number and a huge wad of black silicone to hide the leak - which tells me they documented every engine that had this issue...Never again will I buy something from Arctic Cat, or anything related to that company - total disrespect and unethical BS they did to me and countless others.
They also passed out complete engines like candy bars in an effort to make it right, and eventually changed their foundry supplier after several revisions. We installed plenty. They did, at some point, try to weasel out with "re-man" engines. When we installed one that leaked I raised hell until they sent a brand new complete engine. If your dealer didn't go to bat for you that's on him. We got shit done with the factory on a daily basis.
 
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but...... what about all the patents and royalties owned by RGM
What about them? For one, AC has the rights to use any & all patents. I’m told when the two parted ways, some of the terms were royalties were dropped, but that was also I think RGM thought they would get it in the court case, which they won, and later was overturned. To the best of my knowledge RGM is getting nothing for the XX. Plus all the patents could be argued in court, and I’d suspect most would not hold up due to prior art, or shared patent possession. Several company’s have challenged RGM’s patents with manufacturing their own vehicles with some of those same patented concepts, and we have not heard of one single lawsuit because of it.
 
Never - I was one of the idiots that bought an original artic cat 1000 with the leaking case issue. Case had a hand engraved number and a huge wad of black silicone to hide the leak - which tells me they documented every engine that had this issue...Never again will I buy something from Arctic Cat, or anything related to that company - total disrespect and unethical BS they did to me and countless others.


They also passed out complete engines like candy bars in an effort to make it right, and eventually changed their foundry supplier after several revisions. We installed plenty. They did, at some point, try to weasel out with "re-man" engines. When we installed one that leaked I raised hell until they sent a brand new complete engine. If your dealer didn't go to bat for you that's on him. We got shit done with the factory on a daily basis.

Unfortunately that is why that round of AC ownership failed and eventually sold to Textron, as they were months away from filing bankruptcy. Textron saved Arctic Cat.

Then unfortunately again Textron did nothing to make the brand what it once was. I never understood why they even bought it? But not to long ago what sounds like the probable reason was told to me, and it makes sense.

I’m told back in 2017 many government contracts for what they categorize as lite attack vehicles, and small mobile units was coming back up for bid. Polaris was big in this segment of military contracts with the RZR & new Dagor prototype. Textron who is very involved in military & government contracts, wanted in this segment, but the other brands like EZGO & Bad Boy Buggy (golf carts) that Textron owned was not capable of building a vehicle for this. But Arctic Cat had the true off road vehicles and factory that could design & build military grade vehicles. I’m told the XX platform was possibly the vehicle design that could have been what they submitted in the bids.

Im told it’s believed this was the only reason Textron bought Arctic Cat. Not sure if they submitted bids & designs and lost out, or if they just did not get in within time? But whatever happened and when they did not get awarded any contracts, they just pushed Arctic Cat off to the side, and eventually turned it over to EZGO to oversee and manage.

In 2018 they built 7500 XX’s. The following year they only built 4500 and decided to not build the 4 seater, and the next year they were in court with RGM and I’m told even less then 4500 were built, and even confirmed dealers orders were not filled and delivered. Also AC did a partnership with Bass Pro to private label several UTV models, including the XX, but just over a year later that deal fell apart. Since then it’s been said AC built around 2500 XX’s each year even though they took in more then 2500 orders from dealers, they never fulfilled them. Coyne was still taking delivery of 2023 models they ordered in 2024, and never got all the cars they ordered, and I don’t think they got any 2024 models.

Kinda proves Textron for some reason did not want to continue with the off road division. They still seemed more committed to the snowmobile side, but that was probably in part of the partnership with Yamaha, which coincidentally ended at the end of 2024.
 
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