You got that car in a timely manner because you paid full price. And I promise they didn't commit to a delivery date. They may have provided an approximation based upon what they were currently seeing, but it was pretty broad. I know...because I see the OEM orders. The auto makers are prioritizing all inventory to special orders right now (not bought off a dealer's lot) in effort of maximizing profit. The auto OEM's can't tell you week from week what parts they're going to have to build cars, so they certainly can't predict timing. I'll assume you didn't order a base model of something...because had you, it would likely have been delayed unless you're buying fleet vehicles. They're pushing out as much max content as they can right now, again because that's where they make the most money. Many base model vehicles aren't even available right now. The assembly lines at the suppliers for those products are literally shut down. There are no incentives to be had right now and most dealers aren't even honoring employee discount programs.
Depending on your region and the OEM, many dealers still have empty lots. But don't feel bad for the dealers. 2021 is the best year many have had in decades. Again...because they can sell at full price, don't have to honor any incentive programs, they have no advertising costs, etc., etc. Many dealers have figured out the game and they have friends, family, etc. coming in and ordering vehicles with no intention of ever picking them up, just so the dealer can get some inventory on the lot that they can then sell at full MSRP. OEM's aren't doing too bad either thanks to their prioritization of the high end, high profit vehicles. The ones bearing the brunt of it all are the suppliers who based their costs on a predicted volume which isn't there. The suppliers aren't getting paid any more for their parts than they did 2 years ago. Actually, they're getting paid less because every year costs on parts have to be reduced as part of the contracts with the OEM's.
My point here is...the snowmobile industry is NOTHING like the auto biz. The volumes simply don't scale and the sales strategies/production strategies are nothing alike. If an auto OEM applies pressure to a chip supplier for product, they're going to win out over the sled OEM. And likewise....if a cell phone manufacturer applies pressure to a chip supplier, they're going to win over an auto OEM.
The sled OEM's aren't keeping secrets. They've literally been telling you everything they know. I understand how communication may seem so easy, but when it has to travel through a dozen different people/suppliers/corporations before it gets to you....it doesn't happen instantly. It often becomes a piece of "corporate strategy" and negotiations. I work for one of the largest global automotive suppliers on the planet. We can only go off course so much based upon predictions. Despite some early 2021 "expert predictions" that there could be shortages, the chip supply problem that I referenced earlier wasn't directly communicated to me until September of last year. Now imagine being a sled manufacturer whose production is supposed to be starting at that time. That chip passes through no less than a half dozen suppliers before it gets to my floor so it then took another 2 months of communications through the supply chain before we understood just how bad the situation was. And that situation is changing every week based upon who the chip supplier decided to run parts for the week prior, what ships were allowed to dock at the ports, how many employees were out with Covid, etc., etc. As of today I literally have no idea what we'll receive. We might get 5 parts that utilize that chip this week, we might get 1,000, or we might get zero. How could I communicate that to my customer? Probably the same way Polaris has been communicating it to you. Basically...we're sorry, please understand it's out of our control and we're doing the best we can. Think about it this way.....they told us 2 years ago that it would take "2 weeks to flatten the curve." How did that prediction play out?
I do sympathize with those who ended up with nothing to ride this year. That would obviously suck. You can ride nuts to butts with me on the next trip if it helps.
