Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/499779
www.PowersportsBusiness.com SNOWMOBILE Powersports Business • May 4, 2015 • 41 figure they can do one more year on theirs." The 2016 product lines boast "a lot of nice refinements" that Van Zelst says will help per- suade customers to buy. He added that half of the dealership's snowmobile market is domi- nated by Ski-Doos. When trying to promote snowcheck, Van Zelst has found consumer interest and good deals drive the market. "If the models are compelling enough, they'll buy, or otherwise they'll just wait," Van Zelst said. "But really it's not about those special models as much as the deal that you can get on an in-season model with the war- ranty and rebate that normally you just don't see in-season." Many dealerships offer enticements or financing to appeal to customers and help them commit to buying during the snowcheck period. Don & Roy's offers customers a $100 gift card with a snowcheck purchase to get its customers started in its parts and accessories department. In addition to the snowcheck deals, Van Zelst says the dealership strives to stay committed to its customers not only before, but after the sale. SNOWY WITH GOOD SLEDS In the East, with record snowfalls and bizarre weather, dealers experienced a different snow- check than in other parts of the country. "Snowchecks have been flat line for the past couple of years, but a good flat line. Probably about 30 percent of our sales for the year for new units will be snowchecked," said Wayne Ouimet, owner of Ronnie's. The dealership, which is split between two loca- tions, sells Polaris snowmobiles in Pittsfield, Mass., and Ski-Doo and Yamaha at its Ben- nington, Vt., location. Ouimet also owns dealerships in Adams, Mass., and Guilder- land, N.Y. "I wouldn't say it's easy, but it's fairly normal in our area. Snowcheck is something that a lot of people look forward to — they know it's the very best deal of the year," Ouimet said. In order to get out the word, Ronnie's places print ads in regional snowmobile magazines to help promote its snowcheck program. "Our customer base is the Vermont and Massachusetts area. We hold the presses until about the time that our managers go to the show and learn about the new product," said Ouimet. "We place our ads, so they can go to thousands of people." Between the record snowfalls and print publicity, Ronnie's is look- ing forward to positive snowmobile sales for the rest of the season. Bob Weaver, owner of Bob Weaver Motor- sports & Marine, in North Tonawanda, N.Y., is also looking forward to another positive sales year. "Snowcheck picked up a lot this year because of how good the winter was, No.1, and No. 2 how good the Polaris sleds were," Weaver said. "A lot of people got a chance to ride a friend's Polaris or maybe get a chance to demo one. Once you ride one of those, people are sold." The new Polaris AXYS chassis are becoming the "hot ticket" to snowcheck at the Buffalo-area dealership. Bob Weaver Motorsports, a Powersports Business Power 50 dealership, does well in snowcheck, but Weaver says most of its sales happen in-season. "The only people who buy early are the diehard people who can plan ahead that far," Weaver added. In the past, the dealership has completely sold out of its snow- mobile inventory, a "tremendous" tradition that it hopes to continue. PSB Apparel manufacturer broadens Cat's PG&A product lineup Arctic Cat Inc. announced in March that it has completed the acquisition of Motorfist, LLC, a privately owned company based in Idaho Falls, Idaho, that designs, develops and distributes high-performance technical riding gear. Founded in 2009, Motorfist does business throughout North America, as well as Russia, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Japan, Iceland and Greenland. Terms of the transac- tion were not disclosed. "This acquisition complements our garment and riding-gear business and is an example of our strategy to grow through small, bolt-on acquisitions," said Christopher T. Metz, Arc- tic Cat president and CEO. "Motorfist is an innovative, growing company in the powers- ports apparel market with a strong reputation as a provider of technical snowmobile riding gear. Adding an outstanding brand like Motorfist gives us a broader PG&A product offering for our North America and international markets. We are excited to welcome Motorfist's employees into the Arc- tic Cat family." A r c t i c C a t w i l l maintain the Motor- fist brand position- ing and name, and Motorfist will con- tinue to operate independently with its current staff in Idaho Falls. Brad Ball, Motor- fist's founder and president, said: "Our success over the past six years speaks to our passion for providing the riding community with the high- est quality gear. I am proud of what we have built at Motorfist, and I am excited to enter a new chapter of growth with Arctic Cat." After only a few years of manufac- turing, the Motor- fist brand has set a high benchmark f o r p r e m i u m s n o w m o b i l e gear. Motorfist's p r o d u c t s a r e engineered with its proprietary eVent waterproof, w i n d p r o o f a n d breathable fabric, delivering rugged solutions for harsh conditions. PSB Arctic Cat adds Motorfist to lineup gear. Adding an outstanding brand like Motorfist gives us a broader PG&A product offering for our North America and international markets. We are excited to welcome Motorfist's employees into the Arc- A r c t i c C a t w i l l maintain the Motor- fist's founder and president, said: "Our success over the past the riding community with the high- est quality gear. I am proud of what we have built at Motorfist, and I am excited to enter a new chapter of growth with Arctic Cat." After only a few years of manufac- turing, the Motor- fist brand has set a high benchmark f o r p r e m i u m s n o w m o b i l e gear. Motorfist's p r o d u c t s a r e engineered with its proprietary eVent waterproof, w i n d p r o o f a n d breathable fabric, delivering rugged Motorfist's technical riding gear for the snowmobile enthusiast has been impressive since the company's 2009 launch. WHERE APPLICABLE, PLEASE PROVIDE YOUR APPROXIMATE YEAR-OVER-YEAR SNOWMOBILE SALES GROWTH (MEASURED IN UNITS) FOR CALENDAR Q1 (JAN.-MARCH). WHERE APPLICABLE, WHAT TYPE OF GROWTH ARE YOU EXPECTING BY SNOWMOBILE BRAND OVER THE NEXT 12 MONTHS? 9% 9% 14% 4% 21% 13% 29% 6% 9% 38% 18% 13% 29% 25% 27% 9% 13% 4% 13% 9% 9% 7% 6% 36% 30% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% Arctic Cat Polaris Ski-Doo Yamaha -30% or worse -20% -10% -5% Flat +5% +10% +20% +30% or more 100% 4% 9% 7% 22% 53% 6% 10% 17% 20% 12% 50% 26% 20% 47% 10% 4% 24% 20% 13% 10% 4% 12% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% Arctic Cat Polaris Ski-Doo Yamaha -30% or worse -20% -10% -5% Flat +5% +10% +20% +30% or more SNOWCHECK CONTINUED FROM PAGE 40 80% 57% 14% 44% 20% 39% 43% 50% 4% 43% 6% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% Arctic Cat Polaris Ski-Doo Yamaha Too heavy About right Too low 10% 23% 14% 6% 30% 23% 36% 38% 60% 55% 50% 56% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% Arctic Cat Polaris Ski-Doo Yamaha Better than expected About what we expected Lower than expected HOW WOULD YOU CHARACTERIZE YOUR CURRENT SNOWMOBILE INVENTORY LEVELS BY BRAND? HOW WOULD YOU CHARACTERIZE INTEREST IN SPRING SNOWMOBILE SALES OF 2016 MODELS BY BRAND? Source: Powersports Business/RBC Capital Markets Q1 Dealer Survey