2013 Arctic Cat Sneak Peek Tour

So John. Will cat show us a Price point 120 hp class sled being Polaris is going to be selling a ton of Indy’s and Cat has nothing in the $8,000 and under sleds except for the 570.

No Jim R probably not considering 1100s out sold Polaris 600s last year.

Well it will not happen this year with a brand new Indy 600 that lists for $7,999.00. Going to sell the **** out of that sled and Cat is just watching the sales losses. At the VERY LEAST Cat should be putting out an 1100 base model without the rebuildable shocks and a less expensive gauge package at a competetive price of say $8,599.00 being it comes with Electric start.

JimR

You seem to have every answer maybe you should go work at arctic cat. Seems to me you know everything. Just sayin this; if cat though they needed a 600 base model or a 1100 base model they would produce it.

I talked with Randy from RV Sports on this last year and he said this is the one place that Cat needs to step up to because they are not getting new riders into the stable. Damn right though that I have the all the answers. Tell me that having a price point sled would not bring in more customers. How is that better?

I don’t expect Arctic Cat to all-of-the-sudden announce a price-point 120hp snowmobile now, having just released all the info on their 2013 line. It’s not like they can whip something like this up in a matter of weeks. And as ACRider is intimating, perhaps doing so not the best focus of the company resources at this point.

I think all the OEMs look at each other and see things that they wish they had. I gotta believe the other three look at the Turbo with great envy.

I agree that having a price-point sled in the new chassis would be a good thing for Cat, dealers and potential customers.

Even better would be a true introductory snowmobile that’s not $8K, but rather $5,000. Something that would be the modern equivalent of the original Jag (as well as 1980s and ’90s Jags). But really, I want it to hit me emotionally like that original Jag, which truly captured people’s imaginations.

That’s what I want to see.

I know of several potential buyers that will be going Blue this year then that were pretty cat brand loyal. I will give them one more year. Foolish of them not to want to add market share in my opinion.

$2,800.00 is alot of ching to be looking at above and beyond what anyone would really need in a 120 hp trail sled. Am I wrong?

Might have found the best Cat deal for the coming year. 2012 F-1100 lxr. Green (sucks cause everything I own is orange) for $8,650.00 brand new zero miles full warranty. Country Cat. If it were orange and two stroke I would be all over it.

What about us up in Canada eh

I think the guys buying the indy 600 with the cheap old fashioned suspension just to get into a new sled are kidding themselves.. 8k can darn near get that same guy into a really sweet left over with the walker shocks and the pro ride.. so while polaris has found a market and will no doubt sell some sleds, people should use a little common sense when buying.

I would fall asleep trail riding a 600. a good running 600 in the rider forward chassis is the same as a good running fan cooled sled 20 years ago.. my 1987 yamaha phazer would go 92 mph, how fast will a 2013 indy 600 go? my little bro had a pair of 09 600 shifts and they would gps out at 90 mph and with the cheap old fashioned suspension they wouldn’t ride the bumps at all,felt cheap.. BORING

cat is staying focused on providing high quality snowmobiles and i respect them for that, yamaha is doing the same thing.. I understand that polaris and doo are trying to sell to the masses with all these cheapo 600’s with carbs and cheap shocks and tracks and I know the old saying” sell to the masses and live with the classes,sell to the classes and live with the masses” but like John said, the turbo is the envy of the industry right now and cat reeally stepped up putting this sled in the rr.. one thing at a time I guess. cats got the 570 for the kids, the 500 in a premium package for the guys that want that and of course the pro cross in all different hp ranges.. I think they have their markets covered pretty good.

John I am going to buy a 2013 F1100NA LXR this spring. I understand you bought the Retro in the 12 MY. I see you were able to get some miles on after that storm we had. I’m only out to just cruise the trail, its not often my 05 F6 will see over 50-60 MPH. I also like to ride 150-200 mile days if condition are good. Would like to hear what you say about yours. As far as quite and smooth running ride and handling? Thank You

Kevin: I’ll be posting some stories about what I think of my ’12, along with what I think of the 2013s, in the next week or so.

JimR: $8,700 for a new F11 LXR is an amazing price. I think you will learn to love green.

Rod Lewis: if/when dates are released on Canadian shows, I’ll post ’em up.

John, get your review of the F1100 posted, already! : ) I’m also in the market for an F1100…

hit 2 bolts on a rairoad bed when the ski got caught under rail going about 10mph on my procross turbo bent a arm swaybar spindle and ski $900.00 to fix guy came along on a doo and said it would have totaled his sled he was a dealer from jersey made me feel a little better just hope cat stands behind any problems they have had with the 2012s we pay alot of money for these toys guys.

Flinstone: the difference is those shocks on the new Indy will last the life of the sled. I have 6500 miles on a ZL 600 and the shocks are like New!

As far as the color goes, Green will never do it. Have to much money invested in my orange, but for someone who does not care great price. Should be the list price.

With the winter we had, new iron has to drop in price in order to move volume does it not?

The rest of the country’s winter wasn’t that much better than we had in MN was it?

The Indy 600 will be a good seller because it will perform and it reasonable in price. I bet there will be a bunch being used in the ’13 Iron Dog since the rear skid and normal tunnel will work better than the Rush/Pro-R.

Something must be going on behind the scenes with the lack of a 600 2 stroke from Cat. A Nytro motor in a Pro-cross chassis might prove to be pretty popular.

Interesting note about fuel economy. On our 50 mile ride from the Northwest Angle of Minnesota across the Big Pond (aka Lake of the Woods) to Kenora, Ontario, this past Sunday, my XF800 Sno Pro actually used one liter less petrol than the Cat Girl’s F570. Of course, it cost me one Canadian penny more as my kitty uses premium and her’s uses regular. But, it shows the big 800 can be a docile feline with good manners as long as you don’t peg the throttle to the handlebar.

So Polaris is taking ANOTHER attempt at a price point 120HP sled. How has it worked in the past? Shift anyone? Fact is, they didnt sell.
I am not sure where all these people get the notion that the 600 class is the be all end all largest selling class in sledding.
Would it be nice if the machines were cheaper? Well duh, but it has been well documented from Polaris, Arctic Cat, and Ski Doo, that their 800 class sleds FAR outsell the 600 class sleds.
This is beating a dead horse. If someone new wants to get into the sport, they dont need to buy a NEW machine. There are lots of perfectly good used machines out there and even leftovers that can be price point machines.
I have seen 800’s selling in the $8500 to $9000 range.

JimR, it wouldnt matter if that sled was the perfect color for you (orange). Remember, its a 4 stroke. They are heavy, require you to change the oil, only have a electric start and the batteries are going to fail every other trip.
Maybe thats why its so cheap?

Captain. The Shift sold TONS! Minnesota speed limit is 50. Cats cheapest sled in liquid cooled form costs $8799.00. It is a 500. The 600 class sleds is by far the largest segment of sales world wide. Keep dreaming that everyone has moved up to the 800 class. This sled will bring tons of new people and keep the ones not wanting to spend tons of money for a 3 month a year sport. Only thing documented was Cat sold more 800’s than they did 600’s because you could only buy the 600 in a snopro model. Price point is the way of the future if you want growth. I see very few new models of cat out in the Pinehurst area. Saw one new Turbo all year. Sad but Cat needs to wake up if they want to move up in market share.

Jimr, I am sure Polaris will be content to sell you a bare bones 600. It is well documented that 600 class is NOT the largest selling segment worldwide or us. Brp and Polaris execs even stated as such during their 2010 financial statements. “Sales increase were driven by strong sales of 800 class machines”
Besides cat is in an excellent financial position right now. Extremely profitable, no debt, investors are loving what they are doing as the stock has risen 150% in like 6 months. That same growth has not happened for Polaris.
I would rather cat focus than have a sled for every claimed niche market. There isn’t much money to be made on bare bones machines.

It is the largest there Captain. Just was not Cat’s largest. I know Cat has been doing great but to say something like a newbie can go and buy a used sled to start out with is missing the big picture. Future sales growth. You can buy a brand new Polaris Indy 600 for well under 8 Grand with Electric start and you even get Ryde FX adjustable shocks. Cat’s 500 has about 40 less horsepower and costs list price is 800 more than Polaris and comes with twin tube shocks. Sorry but that is not thinking big picture. If they make 500 on every bare bones sled it still is money coming in. If Polaris and Doo can do it and Yamaha lowered it’s prices for the coming year as well, why can’t cat do either? Wake up and smell the coffee.

JimR, maybe if I say it backwards it will sink in. eht 006 tnemges si ton eht tsegral rof selibomwons sseldrger fo meo.
I guess we should all take YOUR word over that of the Executives running companies like BRP or Polaris that the 600 class is their largest segment.
Both leaders have been on record and quoted as saying their “800 class machines” sales outpaced that of any other segment and led to their sales growth.
I would take the leaders of these companies words over your’s sorry.
Last year at this time you were beating the “death of the two stroke” horse. Complaining about how 4 strokes are heavy, require you to change oil, batteries die every two seconds etc, now you are hung up on a loss leader 600 class sled that AC doesnt offer, but the others dont sell many of to begin with.

How can you call it a loss leader there Captain? Are you freaking STUPID! Facts are these sleds sell the sh#t out of them. Both Doo and Poo. Guess you don’t get out much. Bet that the Indy 600 becomes the best selling sled next year. Rider Forward, lightweight and affordable along with being bullet proof. 125 hp two stroke that is easy on fuel and oil and epa approved. 80 lbs lighter than Cats 1100 and $2800 in savings to boot. That is alot of two stroke oil in my eye’s. Show me proof on there Quotes btw. You stating them does not make it that. Stats on Supertrax and snowtech showing does though and the 600 is the meat of the market. Not everyone is rich and loves to ditch bang. A majority have families and trail rides.

JimR,
I searched for those quotes this morning, but unfortunately I couldnt find them. They were from last year’s Financial statements for both Polaris and SkiDoo. I dont have idle time to keep looking, but I know what I read.
How about you provide real facts supporting your claims since you seem to have nothing but time.
Regarding a loss leader, yes, I believe they are loss leaders. If you know anything about Marketing, you sometimes take losses or intentially dont cover your typical profit margins and sell a given product. I will guarantee you those machines have very little profit in them and those two companies feel it is necessary to produce them for one reason or another. That’s fine. Its a cost of doing business for them.
AC doesnt see a benefit in doing it right at the moment, and I see no problem with that. Their profitability, investor confidence, zero debt speaks volumes for how they are financially and they definitely do not need a loss leader to succeed and appeal to their investors. It is more important to me that they focus their efforts on fixing the things that are nagging the 2012’s than some bargain basement, shopko-type 600 machine.

Only problem with that Captain is sledding business is not big money and I can gaurantee you there is money being made on the Indy 600. I don’t think Polaris has any debt right now either and there growth in all markets seems to be at least to the level of cat. Telling you the 600 market is going to be the place to be this year. I don’t know anybody who would spend 12 grand on a sled. 8 grand tops. Believe what you want and I do bleed green but Cat is missing out on a HUGE expansion of business with a reasonably priced sled to compete with the poo and doo. Guess time will tell but have a feeling I will be seeing alot of Blue Indy’s on the trails next winter. Number 1 selling sled it will be.

Reading you guys back and forth has been interesting. Cat was riding high, new sleds…two great winters behind them…then blam this crapfest winter comes along and pissed in their cheerios.

Hopefully the new side by side drives enough revenue to satisfy investors. I can tell you based solely on the amount of email blasts I received this winter vs last from poo and cat that they were not moving the kind of iron they were hoping to.

FWIW I think Cat has essentially said: Poo you can have the chevy cavalier market…we only make camaros and corvettes.

Why don’t we all just wait for arctic cats DI 600 to come out..they already have patents for it. It must be somewhat different than the E-tec for that matter. Nonetheless…Im a little nervous about buying a first year engine after buying this first year 2012 with all of th problems…

Regardless…the 600 indy will be a top seller…especially when the riders find out that they are 5mph faster than the 600 rush(stock). I myself would’nt mind one especially with the low price tag.

I agree the Indy 600 will be a popular sled…..For people that don’t mind riding around on a Polaris! duh…

I look at it this way. A new top-of-the-line Arctic Cat snowmobile is 1/2 the price of a new Harley. 1/3 the price of a new Ranger bass boat. 1/4 the price of a new 5th wheel camper. You wanna play you gotta pay. Simple as that! Therefore, I have no qualms spending $12,000-14,000 for a new kitty.

Except that the new Indy is all modern up front and has basically the same skid in the back as Cat does less the moving front arm. Sorry Greg but you don’t have to pay that kind of money to play obviously! Well less than $8,000 will get you into the game with a sled that is more than up to the task.

JimR,

I do agree with you though on the need for an economical entry-level machine to get more riders into the sport.

Good info on the belt issue that some owners of 2012 XF800’s were experiencing can be found in the Spring 2012 issue of Snowtech magazine on pages 27 and 53.

A 2013 F-570 Cat lists for $7,299. It has electric start and electric reverse. Would make a good entry level machine for anyone hoping to get into the sport of snowmobiling.

Greg, that is true until you find out that Ski-doo has a 600 that they sell for $6999 and it is liquid cooled as well. Makes the 570 seem a little outdated as well as it is in the XP chassis. Telling you all including Cat that they are missing the Boat BIG TIME!

But Jim is arctic cat really missing out? People that buy the cheap sleds are usually the people that want everything for free, only buy carry over, and they are the most fussy when I comes to warranty work. They also are the ones that buy the cheapest sled and ride 6000 miles in a year, that’s all fine and dandy but you can’t expect a $7500 sled to hold up as well as a $12000 sled. Cat wouldn’t be making that much on the sled to begin with, and face it they all break down, so cat will end up paying out a lot of money in warranty work when you sell to those kinds of sleds to those kind of people. Also people that buy “value” sleds do no good for the dealer either because they Jew on the price to start, they don’t buy any accessories, they don’t buy oil from the dealer, and they don’t buy arctic wear that the dealer has. On another note when people buy new sled they usually have in mind what brand they want and I think people that want arctic cats will buck up and pay. By the way this is arcticinsider no one want to hear about how arctic cat is missing the boat and how every other brand isn’t.

Acrider:

Dont think you can go with the more expensive sled is built better after this past year now can you. Who in there right mind can afford a $12,000.00 sled in today’s times btw? Give me a break on the jewing the dealer issue as well. He or she sets the price. Up to each person if they see it worth it or not. Lets see. A 115 hp liquid cooled sled with added electric start with better shocks and better standard equipment than a $7300 56 hp fan cooled sled. Tough choice there rider. Real tough. Cat needs to think about the riding base as I can tell you I cannot afford anything that they are producing in my sled size range right now. Polaris and Doo are. I have had nothing but Cat all my life. Been riding for almost 40 years. Does Cat really want me to go to brand X?

I guess cat should just focus on making you happy.

Cat should be focusing on quality control right now and getting new riders in the sport and the only way that is going to happen for Cat is to get the prices in line with what everyone else is doing. Not having a price point sled is like saying, ok, I am satisfied with losing a customer base to the competition. Not a very wise move. Just making a point here. Don’t go all off the handle there Acrider. Like I said I have owned nothing but Cat all my life but in today’s economy there is a HUGE need for a competetively priced sled that people can actually buy for the short season we have to ride.

Melissa — High heel pumps on Bonita indeed!…Depending on our mood, we call Bonita ehietr the “leggy supermodel” of the kennel… or simply “Barbie Dog”…No ill reflection on her… She’s a great dog… She is truly the daughter of Venus (look it up!) in more ways than one… She just got all the “prissy” genes!It may amuse you to know that on a previous ANWR trip, one of the guests was hooking up his team and put Bonita in lead!… Those of us in the know smiled and shook our heads… Good thing his co-leader was Dingle!Seriously… Is it great for all of us to know these dogs so well, or what?!?!?

In addition to the tefrriic introductions that the bios provide for the younger dogs, I’m absolutely loving the updated info for some of the veteran dogs. Finding out new aspects of the personalities of such familiar faces as Huey, Quito and Roy has been a real treat.As always, the SPK Dog Log rocks!A big thank you to everyone who is working on your website – as a far away fan I really appreciate it. http://elnoanyd.com [url=http://wnjszlfoyp.com]wnjszlfoyp[/url] [link=http://aregdsim.com]aregdsim[/link]