About Polaris

1944
In the year immediately following World War 2, three young men with a knack for making & fixing machines went into business for themselves in Roseau, Minnesota, a small, rural town about 10 miles south of the province of Manitoba, Canada.
The three mechanic's from Roseau, had no grand vision, no dreams of becoming captains of industry. But they did share a talent for innovation and a belief in their abilities. In the decades that followed, their little machine shop in Roseau would evolve into something they could never have imagined: a manufacturing phenomenon called Polaris Industries.
The history of Polaris, in part, a story of innovation, persistence and a little bit of luck. In that respect, it is very similar to stories of many other successful companies. But Polaris is more than a cookie-cutter corporate success story. It is a story of a company that has preserved because it employs dedicated people who are committed to innovation and to their customers.

The Hetten brothers and David Johnson named their company after Polaris, the North star, to call attention to their location in the northern United States.

These three men had vision and were willing to invest considerable amount of time and money on unproven ideas that others could hardly comprehend. for example, the idea behind the straw chopper was remarkably simple, farmers knew they could increase yield by returning organic material such as straw to their soil, the trick was to find an efficient way to do it. Polaris straw chopper made soil replenishment easy. When attached to a combine, the machine cut up straw left behind by the harvest and spread it evenly over the ground. This was only one successful product they produced, they also made dual tractor wheel mounts, ladders, fertilizer spreaders, pick-up boxes, grain elevators, sprayers and a host of other products.

David Johnson, Allan Hetten and Edgar Hetten pose with the Polaris straw cutter and spreader, the machine that, more than any other, kept them in business during Polaris's early years.

1957
David Johnson, like many people in Roseau, was addicted to the outdoors, during the winter he loved to ski and snowshoe to secluded camps where he could hunt deer and enjoy nature. The snow in northern Minnesota sometimes drifted so deep that it was almost impossible to get through. To Johnson, the snow was both a delight and a regular frustration, it was hard to get around in deep snow, he later recalled, "Kept thinking there must be a better way of doing this. I was thinking of some kind of toboggan with a belt going down the centre of it".
Bt late 1955, Johnson was thinking seriously about building a machine that would take some of the work out of outdoor life. On January 10th, 1956, David Johnson's snow machine was ready for its first test run.

1960: An important journey took place in Polaris's history. A 1,200 mile, proving trek across the Alaskan wilderness. It took three weeks, but those who did the trek became celebrities, their efforts generated national interest in the Polaris snow machine.

Today Polaris Snowmobiles have come a long way from the challenges of crossing Alaska.
Polaris Snowmobiles is the No1 Snowmobile, because the people who design and make them are snowmobile riders. And similar to the three young men who founded Polaris more than 50yrs ago, they are committed to their customers and the Polaris name, by pushing the boundaries with the innovations of the future. The future will always be a Today standard with Polaris.

1983
With their background in snowmobile design, Polaris incorporated familiar features as two-stroke engines and the Polaris Variable Transmission (PVT), an automatic transmission. The PVT gave the Polaris ATV an advantage over competitors because it was simpler to handle. The engineers also added unique features, including floorboards (instead of motorcycle-like foot pegs) and MacPherson strut suspension.
Dean Hedlund, ATV development supervisor in charge of trouble shooting new products, explained hot the floorboard innovation came about. "we developed a full floorboard concept because a couple of guys were out and they happened to slip off the conventional floor pegs that everybody else was using and hurt their ankles. So we said, this isn't right, so we put a big floorboard on it and since then, the industry has followed our lead".
In March 1985, Polaris's first production ATV's started rolling off the assembly line.

This four-wheel Trail Boss all-terrain vehicle was among the first ATV's to roll off Polaris's production line.

With the introduction of its ATV's, Polaris became more than a snowmobile company. For the first time in its history, it was producing a major product in numbers that rivalled its snowmobile production, Polaris was transforming itself.
In 1995 Polaris introduced the Sportsman 500 4x4 ATV, which featured another Polaris innovation: independent rear suspension rather than a straight axle, which made for a much smoother ride and provided 11" of groun clerance, the best in the industry. The Sportsman quickly became the industry standard in power, strength and smoothness of rid and the World's best-selling automatic transmission ATV.

1997

Polaris had brought more ATV products firsts to the industry than any other manufacturer combined. And the ATV division continued its record for innovation and quality. In 1997 the Sportsman 500 was rated the best ATV in the industry by several trade publications and continued to be the top seller in its category. It was only natural to stay a step ahead, and the Polaris RANGER, a whole new class of off-road utility vehicles. An off-road utility vehicle with side-by-side seating was developed. Once, again Polaris was entering an established market but Polaris executives knew the company was up to the challenge.

1998
Polaris introduced its fourth major product - Victory Motorcycles. Even before it's unveiling, dealers, consumers and the trade press were keyed up to the Victory V92C, which in its debut year, became Cycle World's "cruiser of the year".

Polaris Industries have sales now in excess of $1.5 billion globally. A network of dedicated dealers Worldwide, and most importantly dedicated customers to the Polaris brand, and they are the people who make Polaris a successful company.
At Polaris, making great products is not just a job; it is a way of life. Their employees are not only building and designing machines, they are also enthusiastic riders. This gives Polaris the competitive edge because we are all working together to make the riding experience the best.

Lightening the load for the dismounted war fighter.
Polaris is currently under a five year contract, awarded in 2004, to provide ATV's with military modifications, designed to work World wide, around the clock on road and off-road terrain, in all weather conditions.