Polaris 2014 Annual Report Download - page 38

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Our products are also subject to international standards related to safety in places where we sell our products
outside the United States. We believe that our motorcycles, SVs, ORVs and snowmobiles have complied with
applicable safety standards in the United States and other international locations.
Use regulation. Local, state and federal laws and regulations have been promulgated, and at various times,
ordinances or legislation is introduced, relating to the use or manner of use of our products. Some states and
municipalities have adopted, or are considering the adoption of, legislation and local ordinances that restrict
the use of ORVs and snowmobiles to specified hours and locations. The federal government also has
legislative and executive authority to restrict the use of ORVs and snowmobiles in some national parks and
federal lands. In several instances, this restriction has been a ban on the recreational use of these vehicles.
Emissions. The federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the California Air Resources Board
(CARB) have adopted emissions regulations applicable to our products.
The EPA’s emission standards for off-road recreational engines and vehicles apply to our ORV’s and
snowmobiles. We have developed engine and emission technologies to meet these requirements, including the
chassis-based ORV emission requirements that became effective in model year 2014. Snowmobiles comply
using the fleet average provisions of the regulations. In 2008, the EPA announced its intention to issue a
future rulemaking on snowmobiles with any new emission standards taking effect after model year 2012. No
further EPA rulemaking activity has followed the 2008 announcement. The CARB also has emission
regulations for ORVs that we meet. In 2014, CARB finalized additional evaporative emission regulations for
ORVs that will take effect beginning in model year 2018.
Our Victory, Indian and Slingshot motorcycles are subject to EPA and CARB emission standards for
on-highway motorcycles. We believe that these vehicles comply with the applicable standards. GEM electric
vehicles are subject to CARB emissions certification requirements, which they meet.
Our products are also subject to international emission laws and regulations in places where we sell our
products outside the United States. Canada’s emission regulations for motorcycles, ORVs and snowmobiles
are similar to those in the United States, and Polaris complies with the applicable Canada requirements.
Europe currently regulates emissions from our motorcycles and certain of our ATV-based products for which
we obtain whole vehicle type approvals, and these products meet the applicable requirements. In 2014, the
European Parliament and Council finalized the details of new regulations that will make these European
emission requirements more stringent beginning in 2016. Emissions from other Polaris off-road products in the
EU will be covered in the future by the non-road mobile machinery directive, which is currently being revised.
Polaris is reviewing the technology requirements and developing compliance solutions for these future EU
regulations.
We believe that our products comply with applicable emission standards and related regulations in the United
States and internationally. We are unable to predict the ultimate impact of the adopted or proposed new
regulations on our business. We are currently developing and obtaining engine and emission technologies to
meet the requirements of the future emission standards.
Employees
Due to the seasonality of our business and certain changes in production cycles, total employment levels vary
throughout the year. Despite such variations in employment levels, employee turnover has not been high.
During 2014, on a worldwide basis, we employed an average of approximately 7,000 full-time persons, a
30 percent increase from 2013. Approximately 2,900 of our employees are salaried. We consider our relations
with our employees to be excellent.
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