Polaris India on steady growth

Polaris India is a wholly owned subsidiary of Polaris Industries USA. Across the globe, Polaris Industries USA is a sales leader when it comes to off road and snowmobiles. Polaris India is headed by Pankaj Dubey, Country Head & Managing Director, Polaris India Pvt. Ltd., and is on a roll to stir up the culture of off-road vehicles. “Polaris has come a long way in the past 3 years it has been in India. People have now started paying close attention to the brand”, said Pankaj. He has already worked with the top automotive brands in the country like Yamaha Motors, LML and Hero. We spend a few moments with him to know Polaris India a bit more closely.

The company manufactures high quality off road vehicles, which can be used for recreational or utility purposes. These off road and all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) can also be used by defence personnel to access areas which are mostly out of reach of normal vehicles. There are numerous applications to Polaris products. These off road and ATVs can be used in agriculture, construction, forest patrolling, adventure and for accessing several other locations.

“These vehicles are categorised as super premium, and have high demand from people with high disposable incomes. Our product Sportsman range is in good demand, with a lot of interest from customers. Even globally, the Sportsman 570 Touring sells the most. Then is the RZR series which is a sport utility off roader built for extreme activities. People can get a taste of these vehicles at the 22 Polaris Experience Zones we have created across the country. These locations have purpose built tracks for customers to experience the potential of Polaris off-roaders. Anybody can walk in, pay for a ticket and hop onboard our range of off roaders to experience the thrill.”

“Polaris vehicles are excellent for adventure sports and other off road recreational activities, but their need is on the paramilitary and armed forces side. Time and again we hear military personnel getting seriously injured while approaching a bomb threat. Here at Polaris we provide a base platform on which can be then constructed to utility vehicle such as an Unmanned reconnaissance vehicle in this case. This vehicle can be then remotely operated by a trained operator to safely approach a suspicious package. This would save precious lives of our armed forces.”

“We also provide some additional services to our off-road vehicle customers. We understand that our vehicles are not road legal yet, hence, if a vehicle breaks down, we send our technicians to either repair them on site for minor damages, or tow them back to the dealership on a flat-bed truck, as it is extremely difficult for an owner to deliver them to the service centre.“

“In the coming 3-5 years, more vehicles can be expected from Polaris India. In fact we are working extensively to get some our off road vehicles legalised for road use. We will have to clear stringent emission regulations and further road regulations such as indicators and wheels to create theses road legal. These will obviously be enhanced products, but will still be very capable when they get off road. Then is our recent joint venture with Eicher Motors to bring out a new type of vehicle. I cannot tell you much but rest assured, this new revolutionary vehicle will harness the strength of both the brands, Polaris India and Eicher Motors. We are also expanding our global footprint further by soon entering Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bhutan and Kazakhstan.”