Dealers ditching slingshots

    Also a dealer in the Savannah, Ga. area sold out and auctioned off all of their inventory by the pallet full. That is where the alignment kit I just bought came from. I picked up the kit last night along with a couple of other test rigs, that I have to figure out what they do and what they go to.

    I think the market for SS has become relatively saturated. Same thing happened with BRP Spyders so they introduced two new low priced models to bring in new riders. Like Polaris, they had hugh rally's sponsored by the manufacturer in the early days. Now, these rally's have become smaller and smaller and vendors have gone out of business. If Polaris would update the design and get the automatic out it might bring in new (younger) folks. Sadly the Sling is not selling good anymore and dealers have to rely on quads and/or two wheelers. ;(

    18 SLR Lemon/Gray
    Vanderhall Venice (traded for SLR Apr '18)
    '16.6 SLR LE (traded for Vanderhall Oct '17)
    '11 & '14 Can Am RT's
    60 Years of 2 Wheeling

    This has been a common phenomenon of disappearing SlingShot dealers starting very early here in Oregon where when we purchased our SlingShot in early 2015 there were six dealers. Now I see that just recently another must have dropped out of the SlingShot business for we are now down to just two as listed on the SlingShot site, one in Salem and one in Portland, 180 miles and 210 miles respectively. Polaris themselves were responsible for forcing our original dealer, and others, out of the SlingShot business by demanding each dealer to carry a minimum inventory, of which smaller dealers could not afford.


    Bill


    I also just noticed that we lost another dealer in northern California, our nearest dealer in that direction is now 300 miles away in Reno Nevada.

    Quote from wjfyfe

    Polaris themselves were responsible for forcing our original dealer, and others, out of the SlingShot business by demanding each dealer to carry a minimum inventory, of which smaller dealers could not afford.

    The very reason many dealers in the northeast dropped Arctic Cat, or went under if they were exclusively Cat dealers, about 15 years ago. There used to be 4 within close proximity to my home. Now......I don't think there is a single Cat dealer left in Massachusetts.


    Polaris should offer dealers incentives rather than forcing mandated inventory.

    Also, Polaris needs to be a little quicker in offering re-designed models. We all love our Slingshots but, when there is zero change other than colors each year...... that's not much incentive for me to change.

    Repeat customers are usually the core of any powersports or automotive manufacturer.


    Once the new Slingshot is released, there will be a big rush of sales. If that model remains the same for 4 - 5 years???? Sales will flatten.

    Quote from wjfyfe

    Isn't that going to be much harder to accomplish with so few dealers left to promote it? It won't matter what Polaris does now, nobody will be interested in our area if they have to travel over three hours just to take a look at one?


    Bill

    So true.

    Cutting themselves at the knees is not really a winning marketing strategy.


    By ramming inventory levels down dealers throats, they put all risk on the dealer only. Polaris would be better served if they helped dealers with kickbacks to help sell the inventory that was forced on them.

    is it polaris chopping them or the dealers themselves dumping them?


    die hard slingshot fans might drive 3 hours to see/buy.....but a casual looker that could have been swayed probably won’t..... even if they want to buy...a 3 hour trip to drop off your slingshot for service will kill all but the die hards.


    southern dealers should still be pretty solid.....northern ones not so much.

    Quote from mpj220

    So true.

    Cutting themselves at the knees is not really a winning marketing strategy.


    By ramming inventory levels down dealers throats, they put all risk on the dealer only. Polaris would be better served if they helped dealers with kickbacks to help sell the inventory that was forced on them.


    Quote from wjfyfe

    Isn't that going to be much harder to accomplish with so few dealers left to promote it? It won't matter what Polaris does now, nobody will be interested in our area if they have to travel over three hours just to take a look at one?

    Well, we just experienced another result of living hundreds of miles from a dealer where a local, low mileage, 2017 SlingShot, after being on the market for several months, finally was sold for under $10,000 to an out-of-state buyer. <X


    Bill

    I placed my deposit on a Slingshot in August 2014 and Texas didn't allow sales until May/June 2015. Since they were so new at that time, I pretty much paid full list + taxes, Tags and $500 shipping/prep which i felt was a good deal since dealers closer to Houston were asking over $2,000 for shipping/prep. The dealer did give me a free blade windshield (normally $500) since they had used the Slingshot I was supposed to get for a couple test drives before they realized it was meant for me.

    A weekend in May 2015 the SlingShot was brought to our attention through a friend. His daughter and son-in-law had recently purchased one and we got to see it the following weekend. I called the nearest dealer the following Monday who had two base models and an SL. Drove the 150 miles on Saturday, paid the dealer $25,000, and Justina rode the March built SL off of the sales floor. So, two weeks from finding out that the SlingShot existed to putting one into our garage. Afterwards is when we found out that most folks were having to order their SlingShots and then waiting months to take delivery.


    Bill