Textron Off Road Replacing Arctic Cat Name, BUT snowmobiles remain Arctic Cat

[jpmez69]

Textron has a reputation of acquiring companies and dissecting the best parts. The Arctic cat name will continue on for a while....Don't kid yourself, Cat isn't going to have an unlimited R & D budget to continue their product lines. If some products are money losers, there good as gone. I feel bad for all the dedicated, driven Cat employees that have been throught the good and bad times with an uncertain future ahead. One disadvantage the cat brand will have under the Textron banner is the decision making will be made by someone outside and not be as flexible as how Cat operated before. I can see some internal tensions taking place in the different departments....R & D, engineering, marketing, management. accounting...Hopefully they don't lose sight of the passion involved that had driven Arctic Cat and the sport we all enjoy.

 

[snopro]

Textron has a reputation of acquiring companies and dissecting the best parts. The Arctic cat name will continue on for a while....Don't kid yourself, Cat isn't going to have an unlimited R & D budget to continue their product lines. If some products are money losers, there good as gone. I feel bad for all the dedicated, driven Cat employees that have been throught the good and bad times with an uncertain future ahead. One disadvantage the cat brand will have under the Textron banner is the decision making will be made by someone outside and not be as flexible as how Cat operated before. I can see some internal tensions taking place in the different departments....R & D, engineering, marketing, management. accounting...Hopefully they don't lose sight of the passion involved that had driven Arctic Cat and the sport we all enjoy.

Yes we need Arctic Cat to stay in the sport and be successful. Its good for the sport to have all manufacturers healthy. Something had to be done though and hopefully this will be what they need to kick start them again. There are dealers with 3-4 year old product on their floors still. That is not good for any companies well being.

 

[arff]

In Vegas we talked to a Arctic Cat employee who was working the large display of sleds , quads and sxs's. This was at the Nascar race. He told rzrgade and myself he probably would not have a job once Textron took over.

Only Arctic Cat name will be sleds.

It was also formally announced that Textron Off Road will be the name of all dirt product going forward, while Arctic Cat’s sub-brands Wildcat, Prowler and Alterra will remain under the Textron Off Road Brand. Arctic Cat will be the snow brand only, going forward.

 

[rzrgade]

It seems that since the vast majority of SXS sales are for down south , way south textron felt the name with artic in it did not fit ... so they say .
Who knows what there plan is ? They may give it a go and see how it works out ...
Time will tell... they have the resources , but they are known to buy up company's in trouble and cull them out and resell .
No mention of Robbie Gordon still on board , or is he gone too ?
Lots of questions , there has never been a better time now for textron/ cat to make a move / with all of Polaris's troubles .
Time will tell, hopefully they become a major player ...soon.

 

[arff]

More information will be out in a week or 2...


I will update then.

 

[rzrgade]

You got Robbie Gordon's job ....

 

[Redturbo]

I thought it suppose to be called "Bad boys" instead of A/C?

 

[rzrgade]

That as textron's own brand of OHV. Now they are all textron off-road , but with sub names as wildcat / stampede/ prowler being kept . No more artic cat or bad boys , on the dirt side ...

 

[arff]

Brand name

 

[rightsideup]

I think that the only way article cat dealers can survive is
To be given first dibs on the Textron off road products or as a few I know in Alberta and BC that carry the Yamaha line as well be allowed to keep that line or kawi.

Sent from my 9015B using Tapatalk

 

[Vance Matheson]

Brand name

The colors are growing on me. And those rims look kinda familiar.

 

[arff]

It will be great to see the machine

 

[arff]

Lots of talk on the trails as people wait to see the new machines.