Indian Motorcycle Global Sales Fall, North America Sales Increase

Polaris, the parent company of Indian Motorcycle has announced the company's financial results for the second quarter of 2020. And like other manufacturers, this year has not been so great for the company. While overall sales of Polaris declined in the second quarter of the year, not everything is doom and gloom, compared to some other brands. Overall sales of Polaris decreased 15 per cent, from sales of $1.77 billion in Q2 2019 to $1.51 billion for the same period in 2020. For the quarter ended June 30, Polaris posted a net loss of $235 million, compared with a profit of $88 million in the same period a year ago.

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Overall revenue from motorcycles is down 28 per cent, but Polaris says North America sales grew in Q2 2020

Revenue from motorcycle sales, including Indian Motorcycle and Slingshot brands are down 28 per cent, from $196.8 million in Q2 of 2019 to $141.3 million in the same period this year. Like other brands, Polaris says the impact of COVID-19, which led to both production suspension and closure of dealers, has led to the lackluster performance in the second quarter. The shutdowns caused dealer inventories to fall 47 per cent, but CEO Scott Wine says the company is well-positioned for the second half of the year. However, demand for off-road vehicles is helping the company, which was still down, but only 15 per cent compared with last year.

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(Indian Motorcycle recently announced the integration of Apple CarPlay on select models)

"Polaris' second quarter results significantly outperformed expectations, once again demonstrating the resiliency and dedication of our global team. We overcame a near complete shutdown of both our dealers and the US economy early in the quarter to capitalise on unprecedented retail demand of our off-road vehicles and motorcycles through May, June and now July. Our broad array of best-in-class products provided an attractive social-distancing solution for both existing, and encouragingly, a wide range of new Powersports customers," said Wine in a statement.

Polaris doesn't quote actual numbers of units sold in its quarterly report, but adds that North America sales of Indian Motorcycle "increased mid-teens per cent" as the company puts it, during Q2 2020. Across the entire motorcycle category, North American sales for the same period "increased low-twenties per cent". Looking ahead, Polaris expects revenue to remain flat for the full year, with sales in the region of $6.65 billion and $6.75 billion, compared to $6.78 billion in 2019.