The Rise and Fall of Arctic Cat: A Snowmobile Legacy in Decline
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 5 ก.พ. 2025
- The Rise and Fall of Arctic Cat: A Snowmobile Legacy in Decline
Once a leader in the snowmobiling industry, Arctic Cat is now facing a challenging future. In this video, we dive into the rise and fall of this legendary brand, exploring its innovations, triumphs, and the recent events that have left fans questioning what’s next. Join us as we uncover the story behind Arctic Cat’s decline in 2024.
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How many people think electric sleds are a joke? ⬇️
Gotta have that 2 stroke smoke and the growl!!!!
@@sledderofnorth I wouldn’t know unless I drove one.. in the brutal cold
@@wadehoover7879 and ya gotta love the greasy triples!
me
EV anything is a joke... except for maybe a golf cart.
Industry is NOT shifting to electricity. That is a horrible take!
lol nobody wants to ride an electric snowmobile.
🎯💯👆👆👆👆💯🎯 people don’t realize they buy electric they’re pushing the gas out of the industry and bringing electric in stop doing that. They want to get rid of gas and make it outlawed by 2034 buying electric only brings that home stop doing it.🤦♂️🤦♂️🤦♂️🤦♂️🤔🤔🤔💯🎯
Yeah I'm not sure there would be much demand for electric snowmobiles. However I am VERY surprised that there aren't any hybrid options on UTV's, snowmobiles, etc
Exactly! The only place they will ever sell a few sleds is maybe to Yellowstone tourists for a half hour rental ride lol
Correct.
We are not an electric crowd.
Period.
Make it affordable !! these sleds are way over priced
Arctic cat is still the cheapest when you compare them to Polaris and skidoo , yet skidoo and Polaris keep selling , Arctic cat has to be more innovative, they don’t make anything that interest todays buyers , they are onto something with there newest sled tho it’s the best thing they made in years , however there off road line up has been garbage since 2018 , can’t survive in today market , when you make such a poor lineup of machines , if Arctic cat is gone , Polaris and skidoo will have free range to do what they want , prices will only increase , cause what is everyone going to buy if they want a new snowmobile , They can buy either a skidoo or Polaris snowmobile and that’s its ,
They make sleds from 3k-25k.
Its not the price.
@ lol show me a new 3 k sled ? Can get a 120 maybe a 200 kids sled for that , that’s about it lol
@@mikepayeur5247 except that it is the price, those sleds that cost 25k are the exact same ones that would have gone for 20k or less 5 years ago
Not even, a used 120 is $3k around here used, usually more. @Saskatchewan1984
Being Canadian, my mother came from a community where snowmobile was the main source of transportation 7 months out of the year, in town, going to work, going to school. It was just accepted and normal. I saw alot of this as a very young boy myself going out with Grandpa, snowmobile was as common as youd imagine people owning a car. This was in a northern part of eastern canada. Me on the other hand, i moved to western Canada at a young age about 22 years ago. I remember back in those days we would always see heavy snowfall in early october. But now, in the same region, we hardly get any snow at all, December 29th today and the temperature was above freezing and the little snow we had was melting. Last year we had no snow at all until January, a legit Brown Christmas. I love snowmobiles, but its a toy that requires a garage, a truck and trailer to haul it, and significant amounts of time off to go into the mountains to really enjoy it. Snowmobiling isnt just winter hobby, or a way of life anymore. Its legit a $100,000+ rich mans sport when you factor in the logistics of it all. I love riding motorcycle throughout the ever longer Spring through fall season, but now if i ever wanted a winter toy that would be better for me, a quad would be the answer, with a track kit on it is now an option aswell.
Yeah, I feel that. Snowmobiling used to be so much easier and more accessible, but with the costs now, it’s definitely become more of a luxury thing. Maybe not $100k, but still a big investment.
And a Quad does not have anywhere near the performance that a sled does. So that's why we buy snowmobiles. If they had the performance of a snowmobile, they would be way more popular than they are now. Oh, a Quad is way over priced just like a sled!
@robertanthony9674 ya that's just it, 95% of buyers don't need the performance a modern Sled offers, no matter what the marketing attempts to sell you. Sure going into the mountains and ripping through powder with 200+ Horsepower is a blast, but looking outside right now, northern Canada but not in the mountains, there isn't even enough snow in my area to ride a Sled at all. So that "performance" really means nothing since I guarentee most sleds are still sitting in their garages. Yet quads are still completely viable, all my buddies are still riding quad or side by side.
As a trapper and a fisherman, I personally could care less about how it looks, I own a 97 Bearcat 550 WT . I'm an off trail rider , use it to work in what I refer to as the real world. Screw the electric BS. It would be at the bottom of a river or a beaver pond due to its excessive weight . I personally don't want to see anyone else out there. Praying for the next ice age!!!
The first words out of my mouth when Textron announced they were buying Cat was, That’s the end for Cat.
The Industry has been dying for decades. From the 60' until the 70's. With over 80 Different Snowmobile Brands, Reduced to a Handful there are today. The Sport has gone from Familes on Trail rides on the weekends. Overpriced Plastic machines not worth a 1/3 of the price tag. The industry deserves to Face Plant.
I know guys that raced cats in the 90's and early 2000's and they were treated very well. the company stood behind their products and helped racers with engine parts, tracks, studs, clutch parts etc... Textron was denying warranty claims and a lot of those guys I knew changed brands.
Then, go ahead and buy AC and show us how its done.
@@mikepayeur5247 I would if I had the money. The company can be turned around with new leadership and hiring folks with passion. They need to go back to their roots, family oriented products and good support.
Say it ain't so. 🤯😢😱
@@mikepayeur5247 Arctic Cat went to Sh*t in 2000.
Electric snowmobiles.....Right!🤣
LOL, yeah. Pretty sure that company already went belly up
@@sppeders1 If you are talking about Taiga, not out of business but still trying to refine their product.
Taiga is the only electric sled that has any range and some speed but still not any competition for the gas powered sleds, so I don't believe any electric snowmobile sales is hurting Arctic Cat. There is no push toward electric sleds!
@@robertanthony9674 last i read is last spring they suspended operations. Maybe they got more gov funding to continue?
Poor business management and not having successful year round toys like the competition. The lack of snow and all the democrats regulations. Sad Really.
What regulations? Like dumping solvents in our water?
Textron does one thing suck artic cat out of business they did this to Polaris in the past
There was no mention of Cat's relationship with Yamaha which is a very important part to this story.
a terrible AI "deep dive"....lol
Suzuki built the engines, not Yamaha.
@@patricksaint-pierre7768 not that there is anything wrong with that..😀
You do realize---It was ARCTIC CAT who told Yamaha they were discontinuing the chassis that Yami was using to put their engine in---Cat is the 1 who walked away---NOT CAT IS DONE !!! only enough sales for POL and DOO anyway. SEE YA
Man, a car is at the same price as a sled that is the same as 10 years ago.
I own a SnoPro M800 Cat, super sled, love it. But I wouldn't pay 20k on a new one
Exactly. The price jump is crazy, especially when the new sleds haven’t changed that much and it’s tough to justify spending 20k on a new one.
The Whole Industry can't keep up. Because it is unaffordable now.. The user Pay system for trails is also to blame. Trail passes are to high. Government got involved and now we have a decline of the entire business. People's money does not go as far these days. They would be better off making Older sit down styles snowmobile at a reduced price and bring back people to the snowmobile business. Instead of dumping money into new models. I can see in 20 years. The end of snowmobiling. Electric is a no go. There is no industry in the woods to support those types of machines. It's sad. Because I love snowmobiling.
Electric snowmobile gonna be business, ski station,farmers, recreational parc and conservation reserves..
You’re spot on. The prices of sleds and trail passes are out of hand. Bringing back affordable models would help bring people back. It’s tough to watch where things are going
Sit down style needs to come back with the windshield I hate the new sleds won’t buy 1
@@otahu26 yeah I think there has to be compromise on both sides. Government needs to be more hands off for sure! Everything is way too regulated. I’m all about basic sleds but so many people can’t live without the latest tech. Gotta find a way to bring more people into the sport on a global scale. I’d love to hear anyone’s ideas?
@@sledderofnorth yeah i also think there are way too many sled variations. Bring back the ole jags, wildcats, Indy classics, Enticers, Mach z’s… simplify
I bought the last 2024 Thundercat. Picked it up Dec. 19th. Sweet machine @ 31k
That is way over priced though. I would agree it’s a nice machine I’ve looked at them. The dealer here has one still
That's robbery
Battery powered sleds...? Yeah right... Don't go too far from home with that... A true Hybrid would be interesting.
Too heavy. Some things aren’t meant to be electric.
You forgot the part they when out of business in 80 -81
season before
1982
Yamaha gone. Cat on way out. If polaris and skidoo can make cheaper sleds they will stay a float
Skidoo and polaris have the upper hand. Because they come out with new technology. While cat and yamaha did nothing and they fell way behind.
I didn't realize new technology was just refurbishing plastics to the same basic machine and calling it new. You clearly don't realize how big BRP is and polaris in size. Go look it up. Then go look how small cat is. And yamaha abandoned the snowmobile industry and cat supplied them a chassis. While yam supplied a engine in trade. Textron was the nail in the coffin for cat A TON of dealers will tell you this
Funny because cat had turbo sleds way back in the 2004. Took almost 20 years for another manufacturer to have a turbo. Cats made that fastest snowmobile well forever now. If cats technology is so far behind explain how or why cats XC racing has been dominant for 2 decades now. Only the last few years has another brand won races or championships. I was a pro cat XC racer won the 2014 championship pro stock and open USCC east in 2014.
Iv been riding sleds before i could walk im 46 now. Iv rode just about everything grew up on polaris. My father owns cats and doos i get to ride his doos.
Great sleds nothing bad to say about doos. But when i ride my cats there great to for going balls out ill put my cats up against anything. The only place the doo shines is rear suspension definitely more plush moderate speeds. But when trail gets nasty going balls out cat or doo both get it dons very well.
Haven’t rode a new polaris since 2019 my dads 850
Axis very fast. Handling and ride wasn’t close to my cats or my father’s 800 C tech. The matrix have very little time on cant say if i like or not.
Anyway cats problem is bad management corporate greed there sleds not perfect nothing is but great machines.
Lets not forget about all the technology cat had before anyone else.
Slide rail suspension
First front independent suspension trail sled
A arms
First battery less EFI
Polaris was first with efi but cat made it work and was first to go all EFI in the entire lineup.
First to have front engine snowmobile
First 2 stroke snowmobile
First to go back to 4 stroke engine.
First turbo sleds
Thats just what i can think of right now except stuff like easy adjustable handle bars stuff like that never really caught on.
Anyway arctic cat had made snowmobiles what they r today hopefully they can make a comeback but not looking good.
That’s the problem to compete you need next level technology and next level investment. It’s all out to lunch and needs a reset a bit
@@joshgessinger4509doesn’t matter what you did, maters what you’re doing now. Customer service went to shit at arctic cat
@@fishsticks5175 lots of close to, and over 20k sleds out there. so are you competing to die? not a great business model, but have at it.
Terrible video on cats history. They were shut down in the early eighties. Early 2000s had some of the best engines in the business with the suzuki laydown 2-strokes. Textron really haven't done cat any favour's, with any luck a proper powersports company will buy them up and make them great again.
Also the electric snowmobile deal is straight trash, taiga already went tits up and couldn't make a go of it. Ski doo sells some for fleet use. The whole point is to be able explore and get away from it all, for ski resorts and some rental applications it may work.
So sorry to hear this. Back in the day they were the KIng's of the sport.
Yamaha was the Dominant Brand in the late 1970's and early 1980's I saw a video on the Skidoo Factory. It is all state of the art and really well Organized. I was surprised how slow the workers worked. Union Mentality.
The Employees at Cat should purchase the Company!
its December 29th and 30 years ago Id be snowmobiling, today it was a balmy 50+ F , almost January, there is no snow anywhere, not a single trail open in the entire province.
where is this ?
SAME thing here in Wisconsin.Can't ride the river because ice isn't safe.Same thing different year.
im from the rez here in Canada, everyone had a sled in the 90s snowmobile rally's, races. It just died i dont know what happened, atvs. still going Stronge
Kind of glosses over the first time they went out of business in the early 80's
Just costs and economy are tuff.
Interesting video but not 100% accurate...
Edgar Hetteen did start Arctic Cat in the 60's, but only after having left Polaris which he co-founded 16 years earlier. The brand was always running after Polaris and BRP who were well founded many years before. The demise of the brand is also due to the post-COVID era that affected all brands and the sport it self, not just arctic Cat, this is not mentioned in the video. Yamaha who had similar market shares also stopped production after the 2025 model year as a effect of the new snowmobile market challenges. Dealers find themselves with to much inventory, prices went up way to quickly and a few bad snow years in a row made it almost impossible to make a profit, so companies are faced with tough choices. For big brands like Polaris and BRP, their ORV sales help compensate for the missing profits, but Arctic Cat did not have this luxury since they hold marginal sales in the ATV and side by side market.
A funny fact, the electric brand to which they were compared to (Taiga Snowmobiles) that we see in the clip, actually filed for bankruptcy earlier this year, so this would not be a good comparison as to why the company was not doing well.
Textron did not see a bright future for Arctic Cat, so this was foreseeable by those in the industry. Needless to say, whether you like the brand or not, its never good for the whole industry when it looses a player. Competition is what drives change and improvements. Lets hope 2026 brings us better news for the future of snowmobiling!
Owned my Cat in the 70’s great memories.
The reason Arctic Cat Snowmobiles were the best sleds in the late 1960s wasn't the engines. Most snowmobile companies used the same engines. Arctic Cat was the first company to use a suspension without boogie wheels, they rode and handled way better then the other sleds.
Corporate greed at its finest.
nobody is going electric that's propaganda
Typical l3ftist video
Iv been riding cats since 2003 I don’t remember any durability issues or bunch of recalls thats BS. If we’re talking about recalls polaris has way more ski doo also has its shares. I believe its just comes down to corporate greed.
Me either
In addition to the lack of snow, and inflated prices, the industry is suffering due to the dying demographics - the baby boomers that fueled the majority of spending on motor sports (and everything else) has retired, and there are not nearly enough younger people pursuing the sport. The baby boomers bought the machines, and also watched the races on television which brought lots of money to the sport. That is no longer the case. This is also why KTM is suffering, and why I predict there will be many more casualties in the near future (cough: HD, Nascar, ?) and who knows how many more? This is really a perfect storm of difficulties (weather, inflation, demographics) that will be hard if not impossible to overcome for many industry stalwarts. The snow will return, and the prices may stabilize, but the lack of customers is the impossible problem to solve. As the driving factor for the industry rise over the last 50 years, the demographics will also steer the decline.
🎯
I live in the Seattle area and it’s so painful to see a trailer full of sno mobiles or jet skis rotting in someone’s driveway 11 months out of the year
Yamaha is well known for making a putting out a good product. I would love to see Yamaha buy out the arctic cat brand and refine it and make it better. Give the option of a dual rail again and release it. If Yamaha was the company making and backing arctic cat I’m sure it can be saved and it would become an awesome snowmobile again. Instead of just rebranding arctic cat, make it their own.
Yamaha is dead! They folded quicker than articcat, it was the purchase textron that was the major downfall of his company. It sucks cause when the smaller the company the better the innovation and customers concerns are taken seriously but the costs can’t compete with large companies. In order to survive they have to fold and the original owners are left hoping their dreams and their legacy survives against such lousy odds.
Regurgitating the same ol story. Corporate greed doesn’t build anything, it ruins everything.
No, l3ftys ruin everything
No, l3fties ruin everything. Keep voting blue and this is what youll get
I have had 30 cats but none after diamonds drive. I went to Polaris for my last ten sleds.
The largest problem is the prices of snowmobiles, like vehicles in general, has outpaced inflation year over year for some time now. This makes new sled sales decline and supports used sales. If new sleds can’t be sold, the smallest manufacturers go out of business. Yamaha and Arctic Cat combined had approximately 5% market share in 2023/2024. BRP had about 60% and Polaris about 35%.
I had a 1998 zrt 800 my first brand new cat 🎉
Polaris would be THE sled if it wasn't for all the recalls. The Catalyst catches up to them but does not exceed them. The problem now is that anybody with a Catalyst soon won't have any warranty and finding parts will be near impossible.
catalyst went right past the polaris chassis. problem is they are close, so it's the same shit really.
Do you see what you just said there… Polaris would be THE “if it wasn’t for”…. Nuff said
@@stevem8602 It kinda already is... it could just be outstanding if it wasn't for all the recalls EVERYTHING Polaris makes gets ridiculous numbers of recalls, not just the sleds.
@@mikeh4053cat definitely did not go past Doo or Poo keep telling your self that who is closing down yeah thats what I thought
Ski-Doo #1!!!
Simple ! - 25k for a sled ?
MSRP for my XC 850 was $16k USD. Paid $13,500. Far cry from $25k
@@patrick00pierret 16k - 23k Canadian - 13-5 upper end of 18k Canadian
Corporate greed is what destroyed this and so many others, Corporations and holding companies only care about profits forgetting who what what the customer base cares about, and only finding ways to destroy quality via AKA more cost effective building, or what I call making everything cheaper to raise profits. Just be happy with slow growth, build high quality and they will come.
I have owned all of the 4 modern brands. AC have always been a player but it’s a tough market. I believe BRP (Ski Doo) have 60 % of the market and the prices of all of these new machines are out of reach for many . The Ski Doo Rev platform changed everything and since then everyone followed. Tough market. Yamaha has bowed out and now Arctic. Not sure what’s next.
I had an idea that textron was going to run it into the ground. Textron is too corporate to keep up with innovation and price stability. Now they price themselves out of general use.
Greed kills another one
I have owned all of the 4 modern brands. AC have always been a player but it’s a tough market. I believe BRP (Ski Doo) have 60 % of the market and the prices of all of these new machines are out of reach for many . Yamaha has bowed out and now Arctic. Not sure what’s next.
January 6th 2025, The 25% Tariffs proposed on Canada includes Snow and Arctic air. The two main resources needed for the prosperous manufacturing of snowmobiles. Can’t build them or supply parts from Mexico now, tariffs there too. So Sorry, BRP Skidoo in Valcourt Quebec, Damn 25% tariffs proposed. Wonder why they’re so expensive ? Phone, ISMA and ask for Jaret Smith, President he’ll explain.
In 2024 there were 112,650 snowmobiles sold worldwide; 51,987 were sold in the U.S. and 38,599 were sold in Canada.
Well I have two cats love them both
I also have a very good job in the oil field make very good money
I cannot afford 25 k to buy a sled plain and simple get back to basics please and remember your core customer again and make the product affordable
Cat fan myself,
I bled green for 15 years ,then they started screwing the long time dealers !then in 12 made trench diggers and screwed us diehard cat riders , i bought another new one in 16 153 800 and it sucked !had to move on! now they make something that might have brought me back and they stop after the first year!!!! stupid!!! i bought 13 brand new cats and 10 used ones since 1987
Textron isn't a company you want to buy you out. They have offed up Cessna too. I hope someone buys the brand and takes it back over.
I hope someone steps in and keeps them going , for TRF + St.Cloud + MN . All the manufacturers are over priced and with no snow again doesn't help . Sad deal .
I grew up on Cats but switched over all my power sports to Yamaha in the early/mid 2000's.
Yamaha already makes Cat motors and Cat makes Yamaha chassis.
Why don't they just do it ALL together and help each other out.
Maybe call them Yamacats!
I've always been a cat guy, but I can't justify spending 25k on a toy that I can only use for maybe 2 months a year.
Plus I think the new sleds are ulgy as sin.
We want four thousand dollar new sled!
Textron has a terrible reputation for not supplying replacement parts after 7 years I have 2 ransome commercial mowers can’t get axle parts
Title should read, “The rise and fall and rise and fall of AC. Two strikes.
Polaris and ski doo wont be far behind, people dont have 20k in the budget for a toy that you can only use 3 months out of the year. Not when a house is 200k and a new truck is 60k.
Instead of competing with Polaris and ski-doos 15-20,000 sled. Why don't they just mass produce cheap affordable sleds for everybody. Nobody is doing that anymore.
They are more than 5years behind polaris and skidoo, last year before they introduced catalyst chassi they where 10years behind. I have a dussin of friends that was die hard artic cat faans but they have all switched to polaris and have never thought of going back
They fell behind, its as simple as that. Two low snow years compounded the problem.
I never did like Arctic cat. The ones I did have always had trouble with them. I went skidoo, better, sled, more reliable, and rides better.😱💁🏼♂️💁🏼♂️💁🏼♂️🤔🤔💯🎯
Polaris is next!
I doubt that! Polaris is not going anywhere.
we love sledding and winter but no one north of des moines cares. at all
Let’s be honest. They’re a poorly managed company. Plain and simple. That being said, I honesty hope they pull themselves out of the financial gutter! The more healthy competition there is the better for the consumer.
Sadly , Textron did the same thing to Polaris ..Electric Snow Cats NO WAY. Some body MUST Save Cat so we at Polaris have REAL Competition
can't see anyone in the upper midwest buying Artic Cat again
Electric sleds are a friggen joke.Can You imagine taking off on one when its Below Zero Weather
Expensive sleds and little snow. A recipe for bankruptcy.
I would hardly call cat a titan or the fastest growing. It was a competitive sled that it.seen more fails then the rest. To bad to see it fail again but all the makes are priceing themselves out of business.
Agreedsleds are far too pricy. If you don’t figure that out you will cease to exist.
Taiga electric is already bankrupt
To many changes
This is much larger than this one company it’s what’s happening to this country aka our government. 😅this is the reason why every major construction project in the USA example any tunnel job like ca devil slide , Berkeley third tunnel, etc… are all run and managed by European contractors! This extends to high rise buildings, major property management like malls are all based out of Europe! Why well there education system is better, example Denmark youth needs to determine very early are they going to a vocational college or regular academic university. Over in Europe the vocational college are held in just as high regard as academic institutions. Here in America it seems like the only study anyone really cares about is programming. Oh and all our universities focus on is filling the desks with foreign students. I think it’s for two main reasons money and Asian students have better attendance and probably higher completion statistics. I have noticed this trend 15+ years ago. It obviously doesn’t take a spoiled white colored individual to run this country or someone with a college degree. Just look at our last 20+ years of presidential candidates. We don’t even have to look at what they accomplished just at who our two major parties selected as their best choices of who wanted the job of running this country and who the democrats & republicans picked for the figureheads! Our relatives have taken away our freedom and power when there voting patterns voted us into a two party system! Sure we see these other parties on our ballots, but the way the system is set up they never have a chance . Now our two best candidates are dementia and a lying self centered egotistical narcissistic crook. At this rate we will be a third world country divided and sold off to the highest bidder probably by the end of the next 1 or two election terms.
Electric snowmobiles? 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤦♂️
Global warming
Lol no one is buy electric snowmobiles never ever