Polaris Motors

[Sawking]

I have heard that that polaris has moved one of it production shops to Mexico. The plant was near Minneapolis. Is there any truth to this if so don't you think the quality might be sacrificed. Was thinking about getting a Pro. Thanks

 

[Tec]

Whats not made it Mexico? My Cummins has 305,000 miles and was Made in Mexico! To my understanding, Polaris has moved there ATV and Side by Side production plant to Mexico, All the snowmobile stuff will still be made in MN.

 

[sled_guy]

A couple of things...
1 - What makes you think something made in Mexico is of any worse quality than what's made in the States... I would even be tempted to argue the opposite. I sure get tired of the ignorant viewpoint about Mexico.
2 - Sled stuff stays in the States, only ATV/Side by Side stuff is going to Mexico.
3 - Design and quality control is still controled by corporate no matter where it's made. If a company doesn't have good QA it doesn't matter who makes the stuff, it's going to be junk.

sled_guy

 

[R44guy]

I have heard that that polaris has moved one of it production shops to Mexico. The plant was near Minneapolis. Is there any truth to this if so don't you think the quality might be sacrificed. Was thinking about getting a Pro. Thanks

This change is not sled related, the move is not good for the economy and folks in Osceola, WI have lost over 300 jobs from what I understand. But this move is about saving or making more money.

Polaris thinks this will allow them to grow and to stay competitive in the market. I hate to see these changes made and it saddens me with our current economy and all of the unemployment.

Obvious all kinds of corporate giants and manufacturers have plants in Mexico, China, and more accross the globe so polaris is finally following the examples set by the big boys.

The engine or manufacturing quality will not change and some say it may even get better budget cost wise.

 

[switchy]

Whats not made it Mexico? My Cummins has 305,000 miles and was Made in Mexico! To my understanding, Polaris has moved there ATV and Side by Side production plant to Mexico, All the snowmobile stuff will still be made in MN.

I don't know the year of your cummins but they sucked from 99-01 with the new 24 valve. Was a light wall cast block built in MEXICO mine develeped a 9 inch crack near the block heater with only 140k cost me 15thousand and ton of lost income. I would sooner pay the extra production cost for a quality product at the start then shell out later for junk. Cummins fix to the problem was sell updated block for half price.

 

[mountainhorse]

This topic seems to get revisited on occassion as people hear about this months later... covered from all angles in other threads...

Please see these threads for a continued conversation in addition to what has been said on both sides.... Definately a worthy conversation.

http://www.snowestonline.com/forum/showthread.php?t=217845

http://www.snowestonline.com/forum/showthread.php?t=217842

http://www.snowestonline.com/forum/showthread.php?t=217814

From a previous post I put up.

I know first hand the pains that any move like this can cause...and I understand the turmoil that is caused to the families that are involved in transitions like this.

We no longer live in a time where you can count on a "job for life" from the same company...It hasn't been this way for a while in our country.

I grew up in the suburbs of Detroit and have spent the last 2 months there taking care of family.... I know first hand the impacts of these changes from line-workers to engineers. My brother in law, an top engineer for Chrysler has been out of work for 2 years, picking up jobs and staying productive where he can for his family in during the search... much of that because of the foreign companies, investment strategies and VC aspirations of investors that treat mfg as a "commodity" to be shuffled around.

I have also experienced in my family the changes that have made essentially extinct the textile industry in the USA. If you were to boycott all clothing that was made with foreign fabric, you would be naked.

Right now, I am typing this from a hotel room in Roseau, MN after spending yesterday at the Polaris plant and talking to the people working there. This is a small town of hard workers that build a snowmobile that they are very proud of.

The first line of hire for all jobs moved to Roseau are Polaris workers from Osceola... Yes that involves a relocation, which is no small move... but the same is happening in our country in all industries and job markets from a construction worker to a research scientists.

One of many items...The clutch production has been moved to Roseau.... I watched American workers assembling the clutches and balancing... racks and racks of them...In the Roseau, MN plant.

Polaris has made a huge re-investment in the snow division here in Roseau with the creation and expansion of new jobs there.

Buy things where they CAN keep jobs in this country... the Polaris sleds ARE that.


If you decide not to buy a Polaris because it is not the design that you want or it does not perform to your expectations... that is one thing... but if you are generally boycotting the Polaris snowmobiles because some of their NON-snowmobile products are built on foreign soil... then you may just be putting other hard working USA employees out of work.

There is a more detailed reply to this topic in this post. Which covers more of the root issues in this topic. http://www.snowestonline.com/forum/showthread.php?t=217845



In the end, Polaris SNOWMOBILES and their two stroke engines are still manufactured in the USA.