verification . please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . october 2009 learn how and when to remove this template message polaris industries type public traded as nyse pii industry automotive defense founded 1954 founders edgar hetteen allen hetteen david johnson headquarters medina minnesota u.s. area served worldwide except cuba iran syria and north korea key people gregory palen chairman scott w. wine ceo products automobiles commercial vehicles automobile parts all terrain vehicles snowmobiles motorcycles revenue us 4.719 billion 2015 1 operating income us 716.1 million 2015 1 net income us 455.4 million 2015 1 total assets us 2.388 billion 2015 1 total equity us 981.5 million 2015 1 number of employees 3 000 december 2015 1 divisions polaris defense polaris commercial subsidiaries list aixam global electric motorcars goupil industrie indian victory motorcycles international polaris europe polaris india website polaris.com polaris industries is an american manufacturer of snowmobiles atv and neighborhood electric vehicles . polaris is based in the minneapolis exurb of medina minnesota usa . the company also manufactures motorcycles through its victory motorcycles subsidiary and through the indian motorcycle subsidiary which it purchased in april 2011 . 2 polaris no longer produces watercraft . robin a subsidiary of fuji heavy industries which is the owner of subaru previously developed and supplied all terrain vehicle atv and snowmobile engines for polaris industries inc. starting in 1995 with the polaris magnum 425 4 stroke atv and in 1997 with the introduction of the twin 700 snowmobile engine polaris started the development and production of in house produced power plants known as the liberty line of engines now found in many models across their current production lines . since that time polaris has continued to develop their in house engine production capacity now designing and manufacturing all of their own power plants . in 2010 polaris relocated a portion of its utility and sport vehicle assembly to mexico . components manufactured in osceola wisconsin and the vehicle assembly in roseau minnesota . the vast majority of powertrain and vehicles for the off road line are manufactured in the osceola and roseau facilities respectively . both the victory and indian motorcycle brands are american made with complete powertrains and vehicle assembly located in osceola wisconsin and spirit lake iowa respectively . contents 1 history 2 racing 3 polaris defense 4 dagor deployable advanced ground off road 5 see also 6 references 7 external links history edit polaris sno traveler 1965 polaris rzr atv used by firefighters in the kaibab national forest . edgar hetteen who was described by the snowmobile hall of fame in st. germain wisconsin as the father of the snowmobile and allan hetteen were partners in hetteen hoist and derrick shop in roseau minnesota . edgar had dropped out of school after the eighth grade in 1934 . their employees david johnson partnered with paul knochenmus and orlen johnson who was the first person to ride a polaris decided to create a vehicle that could travel through snow . these vehicles primary use was to make hunting locations more accessible . the employees worked overtime to finish their concept model in 1954 . after creating it using a grain silo conveyor belt as a track and an old chevy bumper for skis they had the first snow machine . after returning from a trip edgar was shown the machine but was skeptical of its value . 3 and was disappointed that the group had spent company time and materials on the machine . the no 1 sled was soon sold to roseau lumberyard owner silver pete h.f. peterson for 465 in order to meet company payroll . 4 however the employees continued to be focused on building snowmobiles and soon a second model was created called the polaris sno traveler . the first production model rolled off the assembly line in minnesota in 1956 . the original models weighed close to 1 000 lb 450 kg and moved at a speed of about 20 mph 32 km h . they came in a two tone paint job white below blue with a strip or chrome trim dividing them . in order to publicize the new snowmobile and show their reliability and usefulness in 1960 edgar led three snowmobiles on a 1200 mile trek across the alaskan wilderness starting from bethel alaska . the trip took three weeks and much of the time edgar struggled to maintain 10 mph over the snow . 3 5 the fairbanks daily news miner put them on its front page . however his absence caused problems for him with the company s board of directors . soon after completing the trip edgar left the company in june and started a competing company called polar manufacturing in thief river falls minnesota . the company name later changed to arctic enterprises ; in the mid 1980s it filed for bankruptcy amid fierce competition as snowmobiles became popular and other manufacturers jumped into the market . the company emerged from bankruptcy and continues on today as arctic cat . polaris began developing a smaller consumer sized front engine snowmobile to compete with the skidoo in the early 1960s . in 1964 polaris released the comet . however the comet soon ran into problems as it could not travel in all types of snow conditions . polaris then recalled the sleds and quickly developed a new prototype to avoid bankruptcy . the new model the 1965 mustang became a hit as a family snowmobile and boosted polaris sales . polaris continued to develop snowmobiles similar to this model throughout the 1960s 1970s and went on to become one of the leaders in the snowmobile industry . 4 6 in the early 1980s polaris started creating an indy style snowmobile with ifs and a wider stance . they continued with the indy style sled in the 90 s with the storm ultra and trail lines within the last few years polaris has re released the indy . in 1985 polaris introduced the trailboss which is considered to be the first american made all terrain vehicles atv . in the late 1990s polaris introduced the polaris rocky mountain king rmk a snowmobile specific for mountain terrain . in may 2009 polaris announced the creation of an on road vehicle division . the new division will be devoted to the growth of victory motorcycles and other on road products and brands . 7 in 2010 polaris introduced the polaris rush snowmobile which had a new suspension system and better trail handling capabilities . this snowmobile is also available with retro graphics on the rush and iq models . in late 2005 polaris industries announced that it would purchase a portion of ktm motorcycles . through this venture ktm has developed their own atv and polaris has developed sport atvs which utilize the ktm 525 and 450 powerplants . a polaris ranger modified as an ambulance . on may 21 2010 polaris announced that it was opening a new manufacturing plant in mexico . the sister facility in osceola wisconsin still remains in full operation . the opening of the monterrey mexico facility is anticipated to save the company 30 million annually with most of that savings coming from lower wages . 8 the monterrey facility has 3 assembly lines devoted to production of ranger side by sides for global markets . the original intent of the monterrey facility was to serve markets in the southern us plus mexico and south america . in october 2011 polaris announced an investment in brammo inc. an electric vehicle company based in ashland oregon united states . its first production electric motorcycle the brammo enertia is assembled in ashland and sold at dealerships . 9 polaris continued its investment in brammo when it participated in the 13 million opening tranche of brammo s series c funding round in july 2012 . 10 polaris had been showing interest in electric propulsion producing an electric version of its ranger side by side and more recently buying global electric motorcars gem . as one publication put it this latest move likely signals the addition of clean and quiet drivetrains to atvs and motorcycles under the global giant s brand umbrella snowmobiles may have to wait on battery breakthroughs before they become commercially feasible . 11 on january 15 2015 polaris announced that it had purchased the entire electric motorcycle business from brammo . production of electric motorcycles was slated to commence at polaris factory in spirit lake iowa during the second half of 2015 . 12 polaris also manufactures victory and indian motorcycles at the spirit lake factory . in 2012 production restarted on the indy named sleds stopped in 2004 with the indy 500 with the release of the 2013 indy 600 and indy 600 sp . for 2014 polaris will expand the indy name and provide model variants for nearly all categories the one exception being the mountain class . citation needed on april 11 2013 polaris announced that it acquired aixam mega a french quadricycle manufacturer . 13 on january 9 2015 polaris announced it will be opening a new 600 000 square foot facility in huntsville alabama that will employ at least 1 700 workers . construction on the new manufacturing plant is set to start in early 2015 and should be opened by the spring of 2016 . the plant will support several core processes including vehicle assembly chassis and body painting welding fabrication and injection molding . 14 racing edit polaris racing is one of the big four factory racing teams on the world power sports association wpsa snocross circuit . with 44 signed riders they also run in hillcross oval track racing and cross country racing . the polaris racing team won 8 different championships in the 2006 2007 season . arnar gunnarsson 26 won the pro open g sti 10 won pro stock klara bj rk 89 won pro women at iceland t. j. gulla 44 won the wpsa pro stock championship ross martin 837 won the wpsa pro open championship and kylie abramson 87 won the wpsa pro women s championship . gabe bunke 74 has won the uscc pro 600 class championship and the uscc pro open class . dustin wahl 74 won the pro ice 440 championship the pro ice formula championship and the millennium 600 open championship and john cyr iii 99 won the 2004 uscc pro 700 class championship . most all of the polaris racing riders drive the iqr 440 600 or 700 racer depending on the class and the event . polaris holds the most number of wins in the world s longest toughest snowmobile race the iron dog a 2 000 miles race across alaska . 15 polaris defense edit polaris defense a division of polaris industries produces the mrzr platform and the dagor . dagor deployable advanced ground off road edit dagor is a purpose built ultra light combat vehicle designed and built by polaris defense to meet the light mobility needs of light infantry and special operations forces incorporating military commercial off the shelf cots components and driveline system . 16 dagor 17 place of origin united states service history in service used by united states special operations command production history designed 2012 produced 2014 specifications weight curb weight 2 041 kg 4 499.6 lb length overall 1 780 mm 5 ft 10.1 in width overall 2 110 mm 6 ft 11.1 in height top of roll cage 1 900 mm 6 ft 2.8 in crew 9 engine diesel jp8 payload capacity 1 474 kg 3 249.6 lb operational range 805 km 500 mi speed 110 km h 68 mph the dagor was developed under contract from elements of the united states special operations command socom and international special operations forces sof customers . 16 the design using cots components enables procurement of spares worldwide . the vehicle