Reported sales for the fourth quarter of 2017 increased 18% to a record $1,431 million; adjusted sales were $1,430 million, up 17%, a majority from organic growth. Total 2017 dealer inventory was up 1% year-over-year; ORV dealer inventory was down 6%.
“I am proud of the Polaris team and excited to see their dedication and hard work pay off as we returned the company to sustainable profitable growth in 2017. Indian Motorcycles® massively outperformed the Motorcycle industry, building on its existing momentum with a flood of product news and a very successful year on the race track. We accelerated North American demand for side-by-sides throughout the year led by strong retail sales of RANGER® and Polaris GENERAL™ along with increased international sales growth in all regions outside North America. Additionally, we made significant investments and improvements in our people, processes, product innovation and quality, which led to notable execution improvements in our Off-Road Vehicle business, marked progress on the TAP integration, and a substantial upgrade of our quality control systems and infrastructure,” commented Scott Wine, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Polaris Industries.
North American consumer retail demand for the Polaris motorcycle segment, including Indian Motorcycle and Slingshot, increased about 30 percent during the 2017 fourth quarter. Indian Motorcycle retail sales increased about 17 percent, with both heavyweight and mid-sized motorcycles increasing at similar mid-teens percent levels. Indian Motorcycle continued to gain significant market share for the 2017 fourth quarter and full year on a year-over-year basis. Slingshot’s retail sales were up significantly due to improved product availability compared to the fourth quarter last year. Motorcycle industry retail sales, 900cc and above, were down high-single digits percent in the 2017 fourth quarter.
Motorcycle segment sales, including PG&A, totaled $103 million, a decrease of two percent compared to $104 million reported in the fourth quarter of 2016 which included $25 million of Victory Motorcycle, accessory and apparel sales. Indian Motorcycles sales increased in the high-single digit percent range in the fourth quarter, while Slingshot® sales more than doubled. Gross profit for the fourth quarter of 2017 was $5 million compared to $1 million in the fourth quarter of 2016. Adjusted for the Victory Motorcycles wind down costs of $3 million, motorcycle gross profit was $8 million, up from the fourth quarter last year due to higher sales volume for both Indian Motorcycles and Slingshot and lower warranty costs.
2018 Business Outlook
For full year 2018, the Company expects adjusted net income to be in the range of $6.00 to $6.20 per diluted share, compared with adjusted net income of $4.85 per diluted share for 2017. The 2018 full year guidance takes into account the impact of the corporate tax adjustments included in the recently passed Tax Cuts and Jobs Act by the U.S. Congress. Full year 2018 adjusted sales are anticipated to increase in the range of three percent to five percent over 2017 adjusted sales of $5,428 million.
“Indian Motorcycles® massively outperformed the Motorcycle industry…”
That’s not saying much. They’re only talking approx 2,500 units growth.
Ryan, am I missing something? I thought that chart was the usual $ amount, not units.
Indian up Hardley down. As usual.
Never could quite understand the popularity of the Slingshot.
Yeah, I was talking units, and translated the 17% figure as such, but I mistakenly used full year sales rather than Q4 as the article indicates.
2Ryan, thx. Wish either Indian would man up and give unit sales, or Harley should follow their lead and not give theirs. Tired of the usual apples to potatoes comparison 😉
easy enough to extrapolate some numbers.
7400 Roadmaster units being recalled, MY 2015-2017. Means about 2500 units of those a year. Divide that 12(3 model years, 4 quarters a year) Comes out to around 200 units a quarter for this one model. Go across the board with that 200 and you could assume 2000 bikes a quarter, or 8,000 bikes a year. On the highside maybe 10,000 units.
Anybody else notice that if Harley reported revenue like Polaris do it’s sales would be up in Q4?
BobS. Absolutely not.
Dante read the reports. HD 4th quarter revenue is up even though unit sales are down.
Richard, understood, but here’s no need to guess if they release the units. Just wish they would, but I guess they’re not interested in a direct comparison of the actual numbers to other companies.