Arctic Cat
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Arctic Cat is a producer of all-terrain vehicles and Snowmobiles in the United States. Located in Thief River Falls, Minnesota, they are a top competitor with other snowmobile companies such as Polaris, Ski-Doo by Bombardier, and Yamaha Motor Company Ltd.. The NASDAQ stock trading symbol is ACAT.
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[edit] Snowmobiles
Arctic Cat is most famous for the series of ZR snowmobiles including the 440, 500, 600, 700, 800 and 900. Also for the well-known lake racer, the thundercat which was the most powerful stock snowmobile available in the 90's. Most ZR and ZL were replaced in 2003 by FireCat (F-Series) and SaberCat which featured the cutting edge laydown engine. Big changes were made to the lineup for the 2007 model year, the F-Series chassis was replaced by the new twin-spar chassis in all the F models, as well as the new Z1 Jaguar, which features a 1200cc 4-stroke twin. The SaberCat is out due to electric start and reverse now being available on diamond direct drive. The Crossfire and M-series, however, still remain on the same M-series chassis as last year. However the liquid cooled two-stroke engine packages have changed from 500, 600, and 700 laydowns to the all new 500, 600, 800 and 1000 cc models.
[edit] All Terrain vehicles
Arctic Cat also manufactures a wide range of ATV's (all terrain vehicles). The motors currently range in size from 50cc to 700cc. Arctic cat does not manufacture their own engines - excluding the 650 H1. All other current engines are supplied by Suzuki. Arctic Cat ATV's all feature four stroke engines and full independent suspension without a swaybar.
[edit] History
David Johnson, Edgar Hetteen and Allan Hetteen were partners in Hetteen Hoist and Derrick Shop in Roseau, Minnesota. They designed and built a machine in 1954 to travel over snow. This company eventually became known as Polaris Industries. Edgar left the company in June 1960 and started Polar Manufacturing in Thief River Falls. The company name later changed to Arctic Enterprises.
Arctic Enterprises began producing Arctic Cat snowmobiles in 1960. Arctic Enterprises later expanded to purchase boat manufacturers such as Spirit Marine, Silver Line, Larson, and Lund. Spirit Marine produced the first Wetbike in 1978.
A snowless winter in 1980 and over-production forced Arctic Enterprises to scale back operations and close boat manufacting subsidiaries. Arctic Enterprises went bankrupt in 1981 and ceased production in 1982. In 1984, a new startup company was formed, called Arctco to continue production of the Arctic Cat snowmobile line. In 1996, the company officially changed its name to Arctic Cat.
In 2003, ATV sales surpassed those of snowmobiles due to years of lighter snowfall.
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