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FINANCIAL Christini is latest U.S.-based OEM to join lineup BY KATE SWANSON ASSISTANT EDITOR Since 2006, FreedomRoad Financial has pro- vided powersports retail lending to several OEMs, including Triumph, KTM, Husqvarna, MV Agusta and Ural. In 2015, the company added Polaris on-road vehicles and Arctic Cat, and most recently Christini. Tom Collins, executive vice president and managing director of FreedomRoad Finan- cial, said that the company is very familiar with the powersports space. Collins previ- ously worked for Harley-Davidson Financial for 10 years and says a lot of his employees have similar backgrounds. "[At first] we signed up a lot of Harley deal- ers … that's kind of what we were comfortable with and what we knew. But we always had designed to partner up with an OEM and do their financing," he said. Triumph was FreedomRoad's first partner back in 2008. The company also worked with Ducati for five years until Volkswagen bought the OEM, and established their own credit. Christini Technologies, Inc. has been around since 1999, with the first consumer Christini All Wheel Drive (AWD) motorcycle sold in 2007. According to Christini, its AWD motorcycle technology features "a durable rigid series of shafts and gears to power the front wheel," and its dual sport motorcycle received its CARB certification to be sold all over the U.S. in 2015. FreedomRoad saw the potential to sup- port a U.S.-based manufacturer and liked the enthusiasm that founder Steve Christini had in his business: "They have a passion for this busi- ness, and that really came through to us, and it's the same with their customers." "We want to help this company be success- ful. It's an American-based company. … This is a company we want to see succeed in this marketplace," said Collins. "We're all about manufacturers having this success and grow- ing this powersports space and just making it a very full, healthy environment for everybody." Currently, FreedomRoad's offerings include the full-credit five-tier spectrum, from prime loans to the sub-prime market, with corresponding rates. Collins says the program aims to serve as much of the Chris- tini customer base as possible. In addition, the company's approval rates have been consistent over 2014 and 2015. For 2016, Collins says the company plans to focus in on its OEM relationships. "We want to develop those relationships and cap- ture a greater share of their finances, a greater share of the retail financing of all of our OEM partners and just further strengthen and build on the relations of our OEM partners and their dealers." PSB 8 • March 14, 2016 • Powersports Business www.PowersportsBusiness.com FreedomRoad Financial adds retail financing partner STOCK MARKET WATCH Stock Price Percent Company Ticker 2/19/16 Change Arctic Cat, Inc. ACAT $16.03 30.0% Spy Inc. XSPY $0.12 17.1% ARI Network Services, Inc. ARIS $4.18 15.2% Dover Corporation DOV $60.62 13.8% Carlisle Companies CSL $87.89 9.7% Intl. Speedway Corp. Cl. A ISCA $34.49 8.6% ArvinMeritor ARM $7.34 5.5% CDK Global CDK $43.01 -0.7% TCF Financial Corporation TCB $11.05 -8.9% Honda Motor Corp. ADR HMC $25.93 -9.7% POWERSPORTS BUSINESS WINNERS AND LOSERS MARKET WATCH Change 2/19/16 from 1/22 % Change Powersports Business Index 217.708 2.52 1.17 Dow Jones Index 142.575 2.60 1.85 S&P 500 Index 130.528 0.74 0.57 Source: Wells Fargo Securities LLC 0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 6/19/15 7/24/15 8/14/15 9/11/15 10/16/15 11/6/15 12/4/15 12/31/15 1/22/16 2/19/16 PSB INDEX VALUE DOW JONES INDEXED S&P 500 INDEXED STOCK MARKET ACTIVITY Christini's AWD 450DS has an MSRP of $8,995. DEALER FINANCIAL SNAPSHOT JANUARY 2016 CDK Global Recreation's Same Store Sales results from 1,528 powersports dealerships in the U.S. decreased 4.8 percent overall in January 2016 when compared to January 2015. The North- west was the only region to experience an overall increase, up 0.9 percent. The West decreased in all four categories, down 10.3 percent overall. The Mid- west, South and Northeast were each down in three categories, but experienced an increase in service. PARTS SALES In parts, 578 dealers were up, while 950 were down. SERVICE SALES 749 dealers were up, and 725 were down. MAJOR UNIT SALES Major unit sales saw 594 dealers up and 736 down. MIDWEST -0.8% Parts Department 0.6% Service Department -0.2% Major Units -0.6% Overall NORTHEAST -6.9% Parts Department 9.5% Service Department -0.9% Major Units -0.6% Overall SOUTH -8.2% Parts Department 2.0% Service Department -6.7% Major Units -5.6% Overall NORTHWEST -4.0% Parts Department -3.3% Service Department 2.9% Major Units 0.9% Overall WEST -8.6% Parts Department -3.2% Service Department -12.4% Major Units -10.3% Overall UNITED STATES -6.1% Parts Department 0.8% Service Department -5.7% Major Units -4.8% Overall FOR MORE ON THE SAME STORE SALES DATA For more information on this report and other industry data, contact: cdkrecreation.com/dataservices