In response to concerns expressed over the closure of Polaris' Osceola, Wisconsin plant, where Victory's Freedom 106 engine was assembled, the American motorcycle manufacturer states that the engines will now be assembled at its Spirit Lake, Iowa facility and that all of its manufacturing and assembly will now be in one location.
Victory Motorcycles states that the assembly of its Freedom V-Twin engine, formerly a function of its Osceola, Wisconsin facility, will now be done at its Spirit Lake, Iowa plant. This comes on the heels of yesterday's surprise announcement by
Polaris Industries that it is realigning manufacturing operations, a plan that includes the sale or closure of the Osceola, Wisconsin operations and the opening of a new plant in the Monterrey, Mexico region.
Moving engine assembly to Spirit Lake will allow Victory to have all of its manufacturing and assembly in one single location. Victory bills itself as ‘the new American motorcycle’ and wants to emphasize that it is still an American-made motorcycle. The company is planning investments in the Spirit Lake plant in order to make it the Victory Motorcycles Center of Excellence.
Polaris claims that the move to the Monterrey region of Mexico will bring it closer to its large and growing Southern US customer base. Polaris stated in a morning conference call that ATV and side-by-side vehicle sales account for almost two-thirds of its sales and that its biggest market is in those Southern states. It will also allow them to better serve the burgeoning markets in Latin and South America.
Polaris Industries weighed in the concerns of moving some of its production out of the country but believes that its brand identity will survive as long as they continue to deliver the quality and performance that their customers expect.
