ARCTIC CAT PAUSES PRODUCTION, ANNOUNCES WORKFORCE REDUCTIONS

ARCTIC CAT PAUSES PRODUCTION, ANNOUNCES WORKFORCE REDUCTIONS

While most brands have been busy promoting new four-wheeled powersports models in an uncertain economy, one manufacturer has been relatively quiet for some years. We assumed that Arctic Cat was struggling, especially with decreased snowfall affecting snowmobile sales, but it appears troubles with the Minnesota-based company are much more concerning, to say the least.

Yesterday, Arctic Cat released this dealer communications memo:

In an article today by our friend John Prusak, Editor and Publisher of SnowGoer Magazine, we discovered that “many ATV/UTV offroad engineers were laid off by Textron over the spring and summer.” Prusak said that engineers on the snow side were also expecting layoffs once the 2025 snowmobile lineup began moving to dealerships.

As for ATV and UTV, 2024 models will just carry over into 2025. The article mentions an Arctic Cat insider claims there’s enough ATV/UTV inventory already at dealerships to get through next year, so the plan is to move forward to 2026.

Our thoughts are with all of the Arctic Cat employees as they process this difficult time leading into the holidays.

Pray for snow! …and lower interest rates.