Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/698493
FOCUS PSB UTV-Sport www.PowersportsBusiness.com Powersports Business • July 11, 2016 • 31 product launch in July, it's not like, 'Oh gosh, I'll wait until next July for the next new product.' That's now how we're going to market. We're going to market like most consumer product companies would; you go when the product's ready, and you make big deal out of it. So we'll continue to launch new products, and they'll be model year '17, but it'll be throughout the next 12 months in these wave timeframes." Wave 1 includes the HDX 700 XT Crew, Prowler 500, four Alterras and the Alterra 90. "All of those models were either completely brand new or updated in some way," reported Kale Wainer, media relations specialist. Both Wave 2 and Wave 3 will include new iterations of the Wildcat. Arctic Cat dealers have seen what's coming in Wave 2, though those models won't be revealed to the public until October. The new Wildcats will be a "nice shot in the arm" toward better reaching the West and Southwest markets, Williamson said. "We're not really holding products to a single, once-a-year launch. And we fully expect to continue to launch new products on a very timely basis throughout the year, and we're loading our waves accordingly," Kennedy said. PRICING STRATEGY In addition to new models, Wave 1 also high- lights lower pricing on a number of ATVs. "The big exclamation point for this model year is our value pricing strategy for the MSRPs. We've made a significant reduction on some key models as far as the MSRPs are concerned," Kennedy reported. Arctic Cat has reduced the price on its Alterra 400 to $5,499. The redefined mid-size Alterra 500 is now $5,999, as is the full-size Alterra 500 4X4. The full-size Alterra 700 is $8,999, and the Alterra 700 XT is $9,999, keeping all of those models under the five- figure mark. "We've really taken and bottled this up into a very competitive pricing structure for the dealer and the consumer," Kennedy said. Lower pricing has become a trend in the ATV segment lately, which is why Arctic Cat has pushed to be more competitive price-wise in that arena. "We're seeing the entire ATV realm becom- ing much more of a value proposition to con- sumers," Kennedy said. "They're all looking for a very good value in the products that they're after, and when you start jumping into the higher pricing MSRP segments, they tend to move themselves over to an ROV instead. And we're seeing that not only in the realm of who we're talking to with our voice of the customer, but also we're seeing the competition playing along there as well." On the UTV side, the new Prowler 500 has been launched with a $9,499 MSRP, keeping that unit under $10,000 as well. All of these moves follow a successful price reduction Arc- tic Cat launched on the Wildcat side last year. "Last year we set some new pricing struc- tures that have been paying dividends as far as how our sales are going. From a value perspec- tive of the features — the suspension travel, all of those — against where our price points are at, we had gone after especially the sport side- by-side segment, the performance side-by-side segment last year with the Wildcats and had set pricing up to a couple thousand dollars less than where our major competitor sits today," Kennedy said. "We put ourselves in a very good situation, and that is paying off to the dealers for how well the sales are going." MARKETING PARTNERSHIPS Though Arctic Cat is partnering with the likes of Robby Gordon and Tony Stewart on the sport side-by-side business, the OEM's partner- ships don't stop there. Arctic Cat markets its utility ATVs and side- by-sides to two user groups — farm and ag, and hunters/sportsmen/recreational users. The biggest highlight of Arctic Cat's farm and ag outreach is its corporate sponsorship of the Future Farmers of America (FFA). Arctic Cat attends the FFA's annual conference, show- casing and offering demos on its utility units to the conference's 65,000 attendees. "We're an active participant there with dis- plays and demos, so it allows us to expose the brand and the products to that next generation of user," Williamson said. In addition, Arctic Cat sponsors its local chapter of FFA and encourages its dealers to do the same using co-op funds. "That brings the local dealership, the local community and Arctic Cat together at a very grassroots local level, and those funds get ARCTIC CAT CONTINUED FROM PAGE 26 See Arctic Cat, Page 34 The Wildcat has evolved since its 2012 model year introduction. Now 10 different models are available.