History of Polaris - Off-Road, On-Road, and Much More

Today we'll be taking a look at the history of Polaris, a company that still very much exists, and has an interesting history, as well.

This is my Polaris Ranger, a 2016 XP900 EPS High Lifter Edition.

Polaris was founded in 1954 in Roseau, Minnesota, specifically as Polaris Industries.

The founders were Edgar Hetteen, Allan Hetteen, and David Johnson, who were all partners in an existing company, Hetteen Hoist & Derrick, of Roseau.

Minnesota typically receives a significant amount of snowfall, which in turn can make travel difficult, particularly to rural or off-road locations.

This fact persuaded the Hetteens and Johnson, along with employees Paul Knochenmus and Orlen Johnson, to develop a vehicle capable of traversing snowy off-road terrain, specifically, in their case, to make travel to remote hunting locations easier.

They would design and build a prototype, which consisted of a Briggs & Stratton engine, a grain silo conveyor belt for a track, and old Chevrolet bumpers for skis. These components would combine into a snowmobile - a vehicle that had existed before in various rough forms from other sources, but this general layout design would be the foundation for snowmobiles going forward, right up to the present day.

This first "Polaris" would be sold to a local lumberyard for $465, which would be around $5300 in 2024.

The next design would have a name - the Polaris Sno Traveler, and the first would roll off the assembly line in 1956.

Edgar Hetteen would lead a promotional snowmobile tour 1,200 miles across Alaska, a trip that would last for three weeks. Unfortunately, Edgar would also regularly be absent from the management structure, which caused issues with the Roseau Bank board of directors.

These disagreements and issues would result in Edgar leaving the company and founding a competing company, Polar Manufacturing, which would undergo a name change to Arctic Enterprises.

In the mid 1980's Arctic would file for bankruptcy, from which they would emerge with a new name - Arctic Cat.

Back to the original Polaris, while Edgar was grinding his ax in the mid 80's😬, Polaris would, in 1985, release the Scrambler and Trail Boss, which were the first American production line ATVs.

Polaris would be very successful in the off-road segment for decades, and eventually begin expanding, including introducing the On-Road Vehicle Division in 2009, which consisted of Victory Motorcycles at first.

Engineering and production are performed in Medina, MN, with components made in Osceola, Wisconsin, and final assembly done in Roseau, MN. In 2010 some production would begin in Mexico, and in 2016 a new plant in Huntsville, Alabama would open. Medina is also their HQ.

They would also provide vehicles to the Government under the Polaris Defense banner, which would be rebranded as Polaris Government and Defense in 2017.

In 2019 Polaris Industries would become Polaris Inc.

Polaris has expanded into many markets, both by developing new products under the Polaris moniker, or under their various subsidiary companies - Polaris is well known for their snowmobiles, obviously, but also for their other off-road offering, like the Ranger, Sportsman, and RZR, among others.

Their have an immense portfolio of subsidiary companies, including: GEM, Indian Motorcycles, Taylor-Dunn, Aixam, Groupil Industrie, Bennington Pontoon Boats, Hurricane Deck Boats, Slingshot, Hammerhead Off-Road, 509, Kolpin, ProArmor, and Polaris Europe and India. These are just a selection of the myriad of companies owned by Polaris, which provide boats, clothing, motorcycles, and much more among the various subsidiaries.

Polaris went from humble beginnings - cobbling together a rough snowmobile from various parts to becoming a worldwide* company providing an incredible array of products - and they're even on the stock exchange, PII!

*except for Afghanistan, Cuba, Iran, Syria, and North Korea, all of which Polaris does not sell directly to.

Well, I enjoyed researching this one, but not as much as I enjoy my Ranger!😃

Thanks for reading!