HOLESHOTS
▶ The snowmobile drag
racing community lost one of its most fervent supporters and promoters with the death of Jimmy McHugh on Nov . 11 at the age of 60 after a brief illness . “ Jimmy loved to race , go to the races and have big events , and he was continuously trying to come up with ways to make the sport better ,” said his friend , Chris Riley of Super Sled Online . Godspeed , Jimmy .
Arctic Cat Layoff News Reflects Tough Time In Powersports
In mid-November , Arctic Cat sent a note to its dealer base saying it was going to temporarily shut down its production line after all of its 2025 snowmobiles were built , and it would be laying off some workers and furloughing others . And then the world blew up ! From mainstream media reports to folks on message boards and social media , there seemed to be a race to ( 1 ) blame snowmobiling and ( 2 ) stick a dagger in Arctic Cat and say it is done . Some context is needed . There ’ s no denying that the snowmobile business is distressed after the warmest and most snowless winter in recent history . Each factory is offering rebate programs , cheap fi- nancing and other incentives to try to get sledheads into dealerships with our wallets . But the issues extend beyond snowmobiles , and Arctic Cat ’ s situation is an ideal example . The reason Cat ’ s assembly lines are being idled right now is that they are not being immediately converted over to ATV / UTV production , which usually happens at this time of year . Arctic Cat is pausing production of those products because there is so much inventory at dealerships . In fact , we ’ ve been told by unofficial sources that Arctic likely won ’ t even have a 2025 ATV / UTV lineup . Instead , the company will just delay production and label the machines as 2026 models when they are released at mid-year .
Also of note , Arctic Cat isn ’ t the only company in the powersports business that is laying off workers or restructuring . In our little world , BRP and Polaris both made major cuts in multiple rounds of layoffs or restructuring in 2024 . And in each case , the cuts were deeper in the ATV / off-road and marine segments of their business than in snow .
Beyond that , companies from KTM to Harley-Davidson , Winnebago to John Deere , General Motors to Tesla and far beyond hit similar bumps in the road in 2024 . Blame it on post- COVID , on politics , on economic conditions , on interest rates or whatever , but consumer spending on big ticket items is down . The aftermarket is also hurting .
Back to Arctic Cat , missed by many doomsayers in the letter to dealers was the note about how the production line will be fired back up in the first quarter of 2025 .
▶ Groomer maker Prinoth
recently cut the ribbon on a $ 25 million expansion of its factory in Granby , Quebec . The move doubles the brand ’ s capacity to build equipment right here in North America . On background , Prinoth is originally an Italian company that purchased the former Bombardier groomer brand in 2005 from Camso .
▶ Lynx extreme rider
Andreas Bergmark recently released the last of his Big 5 Series stunt videos – this one setting a new record for the longest backflip on a snowmobile . Search it out on YouTube and you ’ ll even see some cameos by Levi LaVallee . The great ones make the big stunts look so simple .
▶ Lynx has unveiled a 2025
Rave RS 600RS E-TEC race sled with unique features . They include a one-piece hood , snocross-specifc rCTRL rear suspension and a flexible polyethylene tail section behind a short tunnel . Only a handful of the sleds will be built , with none coming to North America .
▶ The snowmobile racing
season is just around the corner , and with it all sorts of news and action will be happening from coast to coast . Keep an eye on SnowGoer . com for the latest and greatest news and information on all aspects of this great sport .
6 / JANUARY 2025 / SNOWGOER . COM