Expectations differ on coming season – September 4, 2006

After years of declining sales, snowmobile OEMs have set their sights a little lower this year as they hope to maintain market share. Fall programs set the stage for snowmobile sales as dealers gear up for the season and buyers in the northern climes say goodbye to summer and begin thinking about winter activities.
“What’s a good season look like? Quite frankly, moving through some of the (existing) inventory at retail and building excitement around ’07 products arriving in the marketplace now,” said Cassey Murphy, marketing manager for snow and Pure Polaris at Polaris Industries, Medina, Minn. “We hope to move some older models through the pipeline.”
Although Murphy has been at Polaris for eight years, this marks her first fall season on the snowmobile side, part of a management shakeup in April that brought Scott Swenson in as general manager of the snowmobile division. He moved over from a similar position in the Pure Polaris division of parts, garments and accessories. “There was an internal reorganization, with a new team on board, and it’s refreshing to see the new perspectives around how we’ll market our products,” Murphy says.
By mid-August, details of Polaris’ fall program had not been finalized. However, members of the company’s dealer council got a chance to see the preliminary plans for the fall and holiday selling seasons, and Murphy reports favorable reviews.
“We’re aware we have an overabundance of snowmobiles at retail right now, and we’re confident we have a competitive program,” Murphy says. “It’s important for dealers to have (a program) that will move snowmobiles for Polaris, and I will say this is the year to buy.”
Among the fall program offerings at Ski-Doo are a $1,000 rebate check if snow in the buyer’s area is at or below the 25-year average, says Francois Tremblay, marketing director of snowmobiles at Ski-Doo, part of Bombardier Recreational Products based in Valcourt, Québec, Canada. As an alternative, shoppers looking for guaranteed savings can “spin” a roulette wheel on a Web site at the store for savings of at least $250. One of the spaces on the wheel is a chance to win the sled that’s being purchased. Dealers also can offer extended warranties in lieu of spinning the wheel, but that aspect of the program will not be advertised.
Ski-Doo has shifted some inventory from regions that were oversupplied to dealers that lacked sufficient inventory, offering discounts to the receiving dealers.
Specific ad buys still are being worked out, but radio is a key factor because of its flexibility in local markets, Tremblay says. Remote radio broadcasts from a dealer store help draw customers in, he notes. The company will focus its advertising on rock and country radio stations, depending on the market. Ski-Doo also plans some newspaper advertising and extensive use of Web-based marketing, including e-news, mass e-mails and a special Web site, Tremblay says.
While Tremblay says Ski-Doo hopes that snowmobile sales stabilize, Yamaha Motor Corp. USA’s Adam Sylvester strikes a more optimistic tone as the fall season quickly approaches.
“We are following up on solid growth from the 2006 season and during the ‘07 model Spring Power Surge, the Phazer lineup attracted a much higher percentage of new-to-the-industry buyers than the industry average,” says Sylvester, snowmobile product manager for the Cypress, Calif.-based company. “We expect to continue to attract new customers and return customers in the fall.”
The OEM will continue to offer free flooring programs for dealers and retail finance programs for consumers, but Sylvester notes that many snowmobile buyers save up for the purchase and pay in cash. Yamaha doesn’t face leftover inventory challenges that some other manufacturers are dealing with because it builds units based on dealer orders, Sylvester says.
“The No. 1 thing snowmobile buyers are looking for is new technology, and Yamaha has introduced dozens of new high-tech four-strokes over the past three years,” Sylvester says. “We’ve seen three solid years of growth despite a tough industry.”
Arctic Cat also is relying on new models to drive sales, says John Tranby, marketing and communications manager for the company based in Thief River Falls, Minn. “Eighty percent of our product lineup is new, and new sells,” says Tranby. “We hope to be helped by that.”
The company is offering a two-year warranty on snowmobiles and financing packages that include no interest, no payments for six months or 8.9 percent financing. Advertising efforts include radio and newspaper advertising in key snowmobile markets (Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, New York and Maine), dealer kits with point-of-purchase materials and banners and an online ad planner so dealers can plan and execute their own marketing campaigns.
“The heart of the battle is October through December, and you try and drive in as many customers as early as you can,” Tranby says of manufacturer fall programs. “We can put together the incentive packages, but, unfortunately, we can’t make it snow.” psb