Victory Motorcycles were first showcased in India at the 2012 Auto Expo. In an earlier interview with me, Pankaj Dubey, MD of Polaris brand in India, informed that all these motorcycles (displayed at the Expo) were sold in India. He went on to reveal that they were planning to bring the Victory brand officially in India, again as CBUs to complement the sibling Indian Motorcycle range. You can read the detailed interview here…
However, yesterday Polaris Industries Chairman and CEO, Scott Wine, officially announced to shut down Victory Motorcycles with immediate effects. They will wind down all operations including production, dealerships, sales but will continue to provide spare parts for the coming ten years. The parent brand Polaris will assist Victory dealers in providing service and warranty coverage to all existing Victory Motorcycle owners.
Indian Motorcycle is an iconic brand focused on recreating the charm of yesteryear motorcycle language. On the other hand, Victory was a very modern brand established in 1998 and the core area of competence for the brand was to create very contemporary designed cruisers and tourers.
Polaris said that they have tried very hard to make Victory motorcycles a higher-volume brand but it was not working for them. Now, with one brand less, they will focus completely on the more profitable Indian Motorcycle as well as their three-wheeled vehicle brand Slingshot.
Its a sad day! In fact whenever a well-established motorcycle brand shuts down it is not good news! Last it was EBR which was facing issues with existence (however, they have survived and are back to making motorcycles now).