Polaris
Building ATV's, UTV's, Snowmobiles and Generator for the Avid Outdoorsman. Yup, we Do Toys!
From our entrepreneurial roots as a mechanical shop, we’ve grown into one of the world’s largest Powersports companies. And in recent years, we’ve expanded beyond Powersports into adjacent markets, like commercial and military vehicles, where we can add value. Today, Polaris offers a diverse portfolio of best-in-class brands that fuel the passion of workers and outdoor enthusiasts around the globe by delivering innovative, high-quality vehicles, products, services and experiences that enrich their lives.
For millions of people around the world, Polaris has become synonymous with adventure and passion, in both work and play. For more than 60 years, we’ve been making high-quality, breakthrough products—whether it’s launching the snowmobile industry, reinventing ATV categories year after year, developing the first purpose-built military vehicles or introducing a radical 3-wheel moto-roadster.
The Polaris spirit can be traced back to co-founders Edgar Hetteen, his younger brother Allan and his close friend David Johnson. The hard-working trio started the forerunner of Polaris—Hetteen Hoist & Derrick—in 1945 in tiny Roseau, Minnesota. With World War II raging and metal scarce, their skill at repairing farm machinery quickly earned them loyal customers.
But it was their tinkering with a better way to get to remote hunting shacks in deep snow that earned them a place in history: Our co-founders developed an early snowmobile in 1955. To prove the new vehicles weren’t just frivolous toys, Edgar and three friends embarked on a 1,200-mile journey across the Alaskan wilderness to demonstrate the vehicle’s durability. They lugged 900 pounds of provisions on toboggans and endured minus-40 degree temperatures to complete the journey in 12 days.
For millions of people around the world, Polaris has become synonymous with adventure and passion, in both work and play. For more than 60 years, we’ve been making high-quality, breakthrough products—whether it’s launching the snowmobile industry, reinventing ATV categories year after year, developing the first purpose-built military vehicles or introducing a radical 3-wheel moto-roadster.
The Polaris spirit can be traced back to co-founders Edgar Hetteen, his younger brother Allan and his close friend David Johnson. The hard-working trio started the forerunner of Polaris—Hetteen Hoist & Derrick—in 1945 in tiny Roseau, Minnesota. With World War II raging and metal scarce, their skill at repairing farm machinery quickly earned them loyal customers.
But it was their tinkering with a better way to get to remote hunting shacks in deep snow that earned them a place in history: Our co-founders developed an early snowmobile in 1955. To prove the new vehicles weren’t just frivolous toys, Edgar and three friends embarked on a 1,200-mile journey across the Alaskan wilderness to demonstrate the vehicle’s durability. They lugged 900 pounds of provisions on toboggans and endured minus-40 degree temperatures to complete the journey in 12 days.