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Polaris Industries Announces Acquisition of
Engine-Developer swissauto Powersports
Expertise from
Switzerland-based Company will enhance Polaris’
engineering capabilities and broaden geographic
reach
MINNEAPOLIS (February 3, 2010) — Polaris
Industries Inc. (NYSE: PII) today
announced its acquisition of swissauto
Powersports. Based in Burgdorf, Switzerland,
swissauto has expertise in designing and
developing high-performance and high-efficiency
engines and innovative vehicles. The acquisition
will further strengthen Polaris’ global engine
and vehicle design capability while also
enhancing the company’s European presence.
Founded in 1987, swissauto’s core capabilities
are in development, prototyping and
manufacturing of internal combustion engines.
Polaris has a long history of working with
swissauto. The high-performance, four-stroke
Weber engine that Polaris uses in several
current snowmobile models was developed by
swissauto.
In addition to recreational vehicle engines,
swissauto also has a strong tradition of
developing top-tier racing engines for World
Motorcycle GP. The company’s V4 2-stroke 500 cc
engine drove 29 wins, 41 Poles and 3 World
Championships during the 1990s. A completely new
racing bike was also developed by swissauto and
competed aggressively against larger Japanese
OEMs during the late 1990s. This bike achieved
the pole position twice during it’s first season
of racing and ranked in the top ten several
times.
“Swissauto has industry leading powertrain
design and development capabilities and a strong
understanding of turbo-charging and
high-performance engines,” said Polaris Chief
Executive Officer, Scott Wine. “This acquisition
directly supports our stated objectives to be
the best in powersports and a global market
leader.”
Polaris acquired the powersports portion of
swissauto and will continue to operate in the
current swissauto facility located in Burgdorf,
Switzerland. The automotive division of
swissauto was not involved in this acquisition
and will continue to operate autonomously.
About Polaris
With annual 2009 sales of $1.6 billion, Polaris
designs, engineers, manufactures and markets
off-road vehicles (ORVs), including all-terrain
vehicles (ATVs) and the Polaris RANGER®,
snowmobiles and Victory Motorcycles® for
recreational and utility use. Polaris is a
recognized leader in the snowmobile industry,
and one of the largest manufacturers of ORVs in
the world. Victory Motorcycles, established in
1998 and representing the first all-new
American-made motorcycle from a major company in
nearly 60 years, are rapidly making impressive
in-roads into the cruiser and touring motorcycle
marketplace. Polaris also enhances the riding
experience with a complete line of Pure Polaris®
apparel, accessories and parts, available at
Polaris dealerships. Polaris Industries Inc.
trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the
symbol “PII,” and the Company is included in the
S&P Small-Cap 600 stock price index. Information
about the complete line of Polaris products,
apparel and vehicle accessories, is available
from authorized Polaris dealers or anytime from
the Polaris homepage at
www.polarisindustries.com.
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