as nasdaq acat industry automotive headquarters minneapolis minnesota united states key people founder edgar hetteen former ceo christopher twomey current ceo christopher t. metz roger skime products land vehicles atvs snowmobiles revenue us 585.27 million fy 2012 1 operating income us 45.89 million fy 2012 1 net income us 29.94 million fy 2012 1 total assets us 255.42 million fy 2012 1 total equity us 138.47 million fy 2012 1 number of employees 1 369 march 2012 1 website www.arcticcat.com arctic cat is a north american manufacturer of snowmobiles and all terrain vehicles . chief engineer on the atv s is brit alex yeates . the company was formed in 1960 and is based in thief river falls minnesota . 2 the company designs engineers manufactures and markets all terrain vehicles snowmobiles as well as related parts garments and accessories . its common stock is traded on the nasdaq global select market under the ticker symbol acat . 3 contents 1 history 2 vehicles today 2.1 snowmobiles 2.2 all terrain vehicles 2.3 side by sides 3 references 4 external links history edit arctic cat was formed by snowmobile pioneer edgar hetteen in 1960 2 due to his departure from his previous self started business polaris industries . like polaris arctic cat grew to become a major manufacturer of snowmobiles watercraft and all terrain vehicles atv s . 4 the company s first name was polar manufacturing but was soon changed to arctic enterprises . 2 the company made their first snowmobile in 1960 and in 1970 started the boss cat line . 5 various boat manufacturers including silver line lund and spirit marine were bought to attempt to expand the company . however arctic cat went bankrupt in 1982 . two years later a new company arctco was created to continue the production of arctic cat snowmobiles . 2 the company was successful in keeping the arctic cat alive and in 1996 the company changed its name to arctic cat . 6 the company continues to make snowmobiles as well as all terrain vehicles and side by sides . over the years the company has attempted many other product lines including snowblowers generators mini bikes and two wheel drive vehicles . arctic cat relocated its headquarters certain corporate executives general managers and sales and marketing personnel to plymouth mn from thief river falls in 2007 . arctic cat continues the majority of their manufacturing in thief river falls minnesota . 7 vehicles today edit snowmobiles edit this section s tone or style may not reflect the encyclopedic tone used on wikipedia . see wikipedia s guide to writing better articles for suggestions . january 2016 learn how and when to remove this template message arctic cat snowmobile . arctic cat is known for their m series snowmobile models which were 3rd in market share behind ski doo and polaris in 2003 . this skinny mini prototype sled had features different from other sleds at that time by utilizing parts that provided more than one role and a track that had less width then other sleds reducing rotating mass . cat discovered that this design was splendid for mountain riding however the trail model developed an over heating issue as the heat exchanges were found to be insufficient when ridden on ice and in marginal snow conditions . though the majority of sleds experienced no issues this resulted in a class action lawsuit and resulted in an out of court settlement where cat bought back from owners 3200 short track firecat f 7 s. these sleds featured a lay down type engine which placed the carburetors in front of the engine . which was centered low in the sled to centralize mass and was believed to allow cooler air inlet temperatures . big changes were made to the lineup for the 2007 model year as a new chassis was introduced which was called a twin spar chassis replacing all previous models while adding a new 4 stroke engine the z1 jaguar which featured an 1100cc 4 stroke parallel twin . in 2009 the z1 was turbocharged to produce 177 horsepower 132 kw which is 1 horsepower 0.75 kw more than any other production snowmobile . 8 the crossfire and m series remain on the same m series chassis which is a spin off from the original firecat chassis . arctic cat atv in use by the finnish border guard all terrain vehicles edit arctic cat started producing utility all terrain vehicles in 1996 and expanded to produce side by side utv s in 2005 . they now produce many different models from youth models to competition models with other models being sport recreation 2 up trail and utility models . 9 they also now offer a line of economy mid size utility atv s which are manufactured by kymco in taiwan . most models come with both 2 wheel drive and 4 wheel drive ride in suspensions and electronic power steering capabilities . 10 the original design of utility atvs was offered from 1996 to 2004 and featured single cylinder liquid or air cooled motors from 250 to 500cc s and all of a common design . this arctic cat designed motor was manufactured by suzuki and featured a 2v sohc design with hemispherical combustion chambers . manual and cvt automatic transmissions were offered . a 650v2 v twin engine option borrowed from the kawasaki prairie was also offered starting in 2003 . a major redesign of the platform was launched in 2005 . with the new redesign came new body work electronics rear mounted gas tank and a standard front locking diff though the chassis in general remained largely unchanged . a new high performance engine platform also debuted in the 650h1 . this h1 platform was a direct evolution of the previous suzuki manufactured engines with many parts being interchangeable but was now manufactured by arctic cat in the us . a 700efi model was also offered which used an engine and transmission combo borrowed from the suzuki king quad model . this is a 4v dohc design with no relation to the h1 engine platform . this was replaced with the 700h1 which was a higher displacement version of the 650h1 with fuel injection added . a 1000cc h2 v twin engine was also made available . arctic cat utility atv s are primarily designed and marketed toward utilitarian uses such as farm work and hunting . compared to other atvs they offer very high ground clearance low gear ratios for towing and large steel racks for hauling large loads and large fuel tanks for extended range . the high ground clearance and locking differentials make them particularly adept off road . they also offer 2 up models and the trv model which features a large dump box and high payload capacity and a mud pro model which features factory air snorkels to allow it to drive nearly submerged larger mud tires and stronger driveline components . side by sides edit arctic cat offered its first side by side utv the prowler starting in 2005 . this is a utility model with large rear mounted box similar to a pickup truck bed . it is mainly intended for utility and farm use and continues in production today . a new high performance model the wildcat was also launched to meet the new demand for recreational utvs aimed at high speed trail riding which was made popular by the huge success of the polaris rzr . both prowlers and wildcats are offered in 2 and 4 seat models with various engine offerings . in 2015 arctic cat launched the side by side sxs racing series as a support series to speed energy formula off road ; the series fields ten wildcat side by sides and made its debut at the sand sports super show in costa mesa california . 11 references edit a b c d e f arctic cat form 10 k annual report filing date jun 8 2012 . secdatabase.com . retrieved jan 13 2013 . a b c d arctic cat models & brand history . autoevolution.com . retrieved 21 may 2016 . arctic cat form 8 k current report filing date nov 14 2012 . secdatabase.com . retrieved jan 13 2013 . godfather of snowmobile industry . star tribune . retrieved 21 may 2016 . the boss cat legacy . bosscatlegacy.com . retrieved 21 may 2016 . arctic cat form 10 q quarterly report filing date aug 14 1996 . secdatabase.com . retrieved jan 13 2013 . the boss cat legacy . bosscatlegacy.com . retrieved 21 may 2016 . supertraxmag.com home of supertrax international snowmobiling s most read most opinionated and highest circulation magazine . supertrax magazine . retrieved 21 may 2016 . atvs . articcat.com . retrieved 21 may 2016 . archived copy . archived from the original on november 16 2011 . retrieved november 2 2011 . arctic cat partners with robby gordon s sst series . business wire . august 25 2015 . retrieved december 31 2015 . external links edit wikimedia commons has media related to arctic cat . arctic cat arctic cat sec filings arctic cat official dealer czech republic arctic cat official dealer romania arctic cat official dealer poland arctic cat official dealer canada alberta retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title arctic cat & oldid 742730533 categories tracked vehiclessnowmobilescompanies based in minnesotaamerican brandscompanies listed on nasdaqhidden 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