Corporate life – The end of Victory Motorcycles marks a new stage for Indian – Occasions INDIAN POLARIS VICTORY

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The end of Victory Motorcycles marks a new milestone for Indian

Corporate life - The end of Victory Motorcycles marks a new stage for Indian - Occasions INDIAN POLARIS VICTORY

After the announcement of the end of Victory Motorcycles activities, what are the prospects for Indian, the second flagship brand of the American giant Polaris? Explanations from Pierre Audoin, Indian and Victory manager for France.

"It’s a moving moment, as for Buell, Voxan and many others," Pierre Audoin tells us about the stop of (read). "Victory has a short but rich history and can become a legendary brand after its death", believes the person in charge for France of this American brand created from scratch in 1998 by the group, which also owns the custom motorcycle brand. .

But this Victory stop should fully benefit Indian,. "It’s a quick decision, but the management of the two brands had become too complicated. Indian took off faster than expected, while with Victory we were still stumbling over the lack of notoriety", continues the French manager..

Brands are born and die, some faster than others, but it is clear that Victory has not succeeded in establishing itself among the general public despite the qualities of its motorcycles (read our). We remember that during the interwar period, France alone had nearly a hundred motorcycle manufacturers who have now disappeared … but not forgotten. !

A chance for dealers

"My priority is to preserve the consideration given to Victory customers", assures Pierre Audoin: "the gatherings are maintained, the residence, we support the dealers and customers, we naturally provide after-sales service and spare parts will be available for ten years. It is a brand for which the customer satisfaction rate is extremely high ".

"It’s never easy, but it’s not like shutting down the network," continues the manager. Because among the 24 dealers in France, "we are fortunate not to have 100% Victory as in Germany or the United States", explains Pierre Audoin. "The shift will be done gradually to allow them to focus on Indian." They should therefore not suffer any shortfall in these already difficult times, "and even on the contrary since they will be able to concentrate 100% on motorcycles that sell and gain in efficiency, as will be the case at the factory. ", provides Pierre Audoin (Polaris registered against 360 Victory, Editor’s note).

Growth drivers

"Indian today sells three times more than Victory and its growth margin is significant", underlines Pierre Audoin, to such an extent that "despite the huge investments made since 2011 (in particular the development of a, Editor’s note), Indian is a profitable brand (30,000 sales in the United States) which represents the strongest growth driver for Polaris ".

Corporate life - The end of Victory Motorcycles marks a new stage for Indian - Occasions INDIAN POLARIS VICTORY

Especially since the Spirit Lake (Iowa) plant does not intend to stop at custom and is preparing to invest in new segments of motorcycle production: the (above) unveiled at Sturgis to compete in flat races track facing the Harley-Davidson XG750R will undoubtedly serve as a model for a future production motorcycle, not to mention the new one on which Indian has great hopes for 2017 … To be continued naturally on MNC: stay tuned !

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