Polaris 2015 Annual Report Download - page 10

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>> Adjusting cranskshaft
alignment allowed us to
make the SportsmanXP
narrower for greater
comfort
POWERTRAIN
Our commitment to the bottom line led us to strengthen
our internal powertrain expertise. We began building
our own engines in1995 on a small scale, but as a
growing company, we couldn’t aord to be at the mercy
of suppliers for such a key component. In2009, we
began expanding this critical in-house function, giving
us three key advantages:
>> Lower cost
Suppliers typically charge 20 to 30percent
more to develop a custom engine than it
costs us to do it in-house.
>> Faster time to market
A custom engine from a supplier typically
takes four to five years to develop, an
unacceptable timeline for a competitive
company. We built Indian Motorcycle’s iconic
Thunder Stroke111™ engine in just 27months.
>> The flexibility to be more innovative
We can experiment more cost-eectively
with radical ideas that help exceed customer
desires. That allows us to make innovative
improvements like switching the typical
east-west alignment of an All-Terrain Vehicle
(ATV) crankshaft to north-south on our
SportsmanXP models. It gave them a narrower
stance—making them more comfortable
for riders and helping make Sportsman the
best-selling ATV intheindustry.