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SNOWMOBILE Q1 dealer survey shows plenty of leftover sleds BY DAVE McMAHON EDITOR IN CHIEF While winter snowfall — and the lack thereof — led to varying degrees of snowmobile sales success at dealerships over the winter, there's one thing customers can count on as the spring season hits: There are plenty of new-model sleds still for sales at those dealerships. A total of 52 snowmobile dealers responded to the recent Q1 2017 Powersports Business/ BMO Capital Markets Dealer Survey, with heavy participation from dealers in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Ontario. Overall, they trended alongside the over- all dealer body, with 54 percent of snowmo- bile dealers reporting that they were either above or on their business plan for the quar- ter. About 12 percent of snowmobile dealers were above plan, compared to 14 percent of all dealers. Inventory remains an issue for snowmobile dealers. A total of 78 percent of them reported that inventory is "too high" with 20 percent saying it's "about right" and 2 percent replying "too low." As one dealer reported: "Carryover is greater than I've had in [decades]. There is very little, if any, interest in pre-orders." But there's always the other side of the coin, adds another dealer: "We are in a better posi- tion than last year. 2018 model interest seems lower than 2017 mostly due to a lack of new product launch. Still very confident on 2018 sled sales though." As for sales performance, measured in sales of new sleds, in general it was a dis- mal quarter for snowmobile sales. About 66 percent of the snowmobile dealers sur- vey described their sales as "flat to minus 20 percent or greater," compared to the 34 percent who said their unit sales were "flat to plus 20 percent or greater." Even so, the outlook remains bright for many dealers. When asked what type of growth they were expecting for the snowmobile seg- ment in the next year, snowmobile dealers report at a rate of 45 percent that they expect to see "flat to plus 10-19 percent" growth. The other 55 percent, however, expect sales in the next year to decrease by "flat to minus 20 per- cent or greater." Finally, we asked snowmobile dealers to describe consumer interest in the 2018 model pre-order sales events, many of which expired in April. Here are some select replies: • "Stinks." • "Very little interest." • "Interest is low." • "Strong interest." • "Very slow. 850 still has the most interest." • "Very little interest." • "Interest is low in most sleds, up in moun- tain segment." • "There isn't any." • "About the worst I have seen." • "Very good interest." • "Arctic Cat released a new snowmobile with the new C-TEC engine. Our inter- est is very high. We will have a better year because of this release." • "Zero interest." • "Very little interest." • "Good interest after a horrible winter." • "Extremely low." • "Very poor interest level overall except for a slight uptick in Sidewinder." • "We have no [pre-order] units at all yet. This time last year we had 10." And when it comes to carryover inventory, there's plenty to go around: • "About 40 percent per brand." • "Polaris and Ski-Doo normal carryover." • "Tons of carryover." • "30 2017s." • "16 2017s." • "I have enough 2016 and 2017 inventory to last equal to 1.5 years worth of sales." • "Less than usual." • "Very high carryover." • "Way too much 2017 inventory." • "Too many carryover sleds." • "Inventory level is OK. OEs asked for big orders for 2018. Not reasonable." • "At current sales rates I have a 2-year sup- ply of carryover snowmobiles." PSB Carryover inventory an issue for sled dealers 30 • May 1, 2017 • Powersports Business www.PowersportsBusiness.com Riders on Polaris AXYS RMK snowmobiles won all four Pro Stock classes at the Mesa, Colorado, RMSHA Hillclimb to extend the Polaris Stock-class win streak to 20 on snow- mobiles like those available to riders at Polaris dealer- ships across the snowbelt. With the Stock sweep, Polaris racers won nine of 12 Pro classes, along with three King of the Hill crowns, at the RMSHA hill- climb on April 8-9. In the season's first five Rocky Mountain States Hillclimb Association events, Polaris racers won all 20 Stock classes and claimed 50 of 60 available Pro podium positions. Polaris racer Keith Curtis has won every Stock King of the Hill title, and Polaris racers have won the 1000 Stock class all five times on Polaris 800 RMKs — outrunning racers on competitive sleds with 850 engines. Curtis won the Stock and Mod King of the Hill crowns at Mesa after winning 600 Stock, 800 Stock, 800 Mod and Open Mod. Andy Thomas won 700 Stock and Luke Rainey won 1000 Stock — on an RMK 800 — to complete the Polaris Stock sweep at the Pow- derhorn Mountain Resort. SKI-DOO SEES SUCCESS AT JACKSON HOLE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS The annual Jackson Hole World Champi- onship Hillclimb event is in the books with Ski-Doo racers taking home five titles in the Pro classes led by once-a-year RMSHA racer- Carl Kuster, who took two wins. Blaine Mathews, Jay Mentaberry and Trent Handsaker got in on the action by claiming their own World Championships in the Men's divisions, while Chrystal Coo- per and Jadian Pfaff battled it out in the women's classes with Cooper taking two and Pfaff one. Copper also claimed Queen of the Hill. PSB DIGEST Polaris hillclimbers extend streak on 800 RMKs Polaris AXYS RMK sleds won 20 Pro Stock hillclimb races in a row. Carl Kuster won twice at the Jackson Hole World Championship Hillclimb event. COURTESY OF RLT PHOTOS HOW WOULD YOU CHARACTERIZE YOUR Q1 YEAR-OVER-YEAR SALES PERFORMANCE (NEW PRODUCTS ONLY, MEASURED IN UNITS): WHAT TYPE OF GROWTH ARE YOU EXPECTING IN SNOWMOBILE SALES (NEW PRODUCTS ONLY, MEASURED IN UNITS) OVER THE NEXT 12 MONTHS? HOW WOULD YOU CHARACTERIZE YOUR CURRENT SNOWMOBILE INVENTORY LEVELS? Too low 2% About right 20% Too high 78% 11% Flat to +9% 34% Flat to -9% 21% 15% -20% or greater 19% +20% or greater 4% +10% to +19% 12% Flat to +9% 17% Flat to -9% 24% -10% to -19% 19% -20% or greater 24% -10% to -19% +10% to +19% Source: Powersports Business/BMO Capital Markets