“For the 2021 model year, Arctic Cat has simplified its product lineup, with a sharp focus on offering high-performance side-by-sides and ATVs across the most popular product classes and categories in the powersports industry,” said Craig Kennedy, Arctic Cat Vice President.
“For work and play, our 2021 Alterra, Wildcat and Prowler lineup, and the models’ accompanying customization kits, provide riders with the power, versatility and value they need and expect from their side-by-side and ATV.”
Returning to the Alterra ATV lineup is the mid-sized Alterra 450, with a revised transmission for improved durability. The Alterra 450 features on-the-fly 2WD/4WD, dual A-arm front and rear suspension, and a two-inch receiver hitch, all powered by a liquid-cooled, single-cylinder, 443cc electronic fuel-injected (EFI) engine. The 400-500cc segment is the heart of the ATV market, and the Alterra 450 offers Arctic Cat enthusiasts an option in this category. Rounding out its ATV lineup, Arctic Cat continues to offer the Alterra 300; the full-size Alterra 570 in base and SE models; the Alterra 700 and two-passenger 700 TRV; and the Alterra 90 youth model. All Arctic Cat ATVs are backed by a 12-month warranty.
Based on consumer and dealer feedback, Arctic Cat has simplified its side-by-side lineup and is offering more customization kits to add versatility while providing value. The utility offering includes the mid-sized Prowler 500, with Trail, Back Country and Premium Cab kits available. The 2021 full-sized utility vehicles include the whisper-quiet, three-person Prowler Pro and six-passenger Prowler Pro Crew. The vehicles come standard with a premium front bumper, 4,500-pound winch, poly roof, aluminum wheels and electronic power steering. Additional customization kits are available on the Prowler Pro, including Adventure, Protection Plus and Winter kits. The Prowler lineup is backed by an 18-month warranty.
For the high-performance segment, Arctic Cat is offering the 130-horsepower Wildcat XX with its 18 inches of front and rear travel, 14 inches of ground clearance, class-leading 300-pound bed capacity, and premium Fox 2.5 Podium QS3 shocks with bottom-out control. For additional customization, Trail, Backcountry and Excursion Kits are available. The Wildcat XX is backed by a six-month warranty.
2021 Arctic Cat Off-Road Model List and Color Options
Alterra 90 (Earth Blue)
Alterra 300 (Earth Blue)
Alterra 450 (Earth Blue and Marsh Green)
Alterra 570 EPS (Dynamic Charcoal)
Alterra 570 EPS SE (Earth Blue)
Alterra 700 EPS SE (Earth Blue)
Alterra 700 TRV (Earth Blue)
Prowler 500 (Earth Blue and Marsh Green)
Prowler Pro (Earth Blue and Ranch)
Prowler Pro Crew (Earth Blue and Ranch)
Wildcat XX (Green/White and Red/Gray)
For more on the 2021 Arctic Cat Off-Road Line-Up, visit ArcticCat.com.
Kale, is this the first wave? I thought you saw new models coming down the line a few weeks ago? Nothing in this lineup is new. I hope this is not all they have coming as the other 2 big companies are killing them! I have owned and do own nothing but cats so not trying to be negative here just concerned with the lack of new snow and dirt products. They really need to do the dirt side right as that in my opinion is the future of the brand. Thanks
Dave Bauer – The information above is what was shared with me and other off-road media from Arctic Cat yesterday. As far as Im aware, this is the full line-up. The 2021 models I saw on the line were some included in this announcement.
Hey Textron if you aren’t going to invest in offroad R&D, then please take Arctic Cat’s name off the units and just continue to build for Tracker Offroad. Those people don’t care about a brand. This offering is so disappointing Id rather not see Arctic Cat build offroad products.
“Simplified the line-up” is an understatement. No Wildcat Trail models? The only thing saving this “line-up” is that dealers are sold out of all inventory and need something to fill the void.
On a positive note, ever since seeing that 450 build of yours Kale, I cant stop thinking about the blue/orange combo. Looks like there are several Earth Blue options now! Hahahaha. Has anything changed on the 700?
2nd Wave Launch…”Arctic Cat brings back Bearcat 454 4×4 and rocker shifter.”
Nice launch video Textron. #StartALegacy with us? These are all legacy units!
Textron you need to come out with another 1000 twin in a TRV and a Mud-Pro!!!
Quite a rollout. All tired old models. No turbo XX. No 4 seat XX. That’s just pitiful. Textron proves, again, that they have no respect for the Arctic Cat name. It’s obvious they have given up on the dirt division.
E-Z-Go fools.
Glad2BGone:
Did you know that there was this Pandemic that shut down the Country including Cat’s Engineering staff hence nothing new is ready to go this year. As they say Calm Down!
Glad2BGone:
Did you know that there was this Pandemic that shut down the Country including Cat’s Engineering staff hence nothing new is ready to go this year. As they say Calm Down!
Textron. You are killing the brand Arctic Cat. Whether it’s Snowmobiling or 4 Wheelers. You are falling behind every other brand out there. It’s almost like you want to run the company into the ground. If you are not going to do anything with the Brand then sell it before YOU kill it
JimR, I am well aware of what is going on. I am also well aware that other companies have the hammer down, and have had multiple model rollouts while Textron has let Arctic Cat wither on the vine. You should realize that this tailspin started long, long before COVID came along. I have watched as dealer friends of mine have suffered under E-Z-Go’s dithering and ineptitude. But, I have no need to calm down, as I retired, and am no longer saddled with trying to make a living as a dealer for these insufferable fools.
When they first released last years there also was no wildcat trail or TRV. A few months later they were rolling down the line. So who knows.
Seems to be a lack of green in this line up. Navy blue is the new green!!!
The golf cart idiots are hurting our brand!! Where are the models to compete with the other brands? No trail machine, no 4 seater sport model, no turbo, work models that drives like a turtle?
Wheres the HAVOC?????
Wow!
New stickers for the big 2021 release.
Long time cat dirt guy and several trips around the sun with nothing new again.
Put the thundercat name on big bore twin atv and make it mean something again.
This may be the most disappointing release since the Textron Acquisition. XX and Prowler Pro are not the answer for a SxS lineup. Regardless of engineering capacity dropping Stampede/Havoc Platform along with Wildcat Trail is a lack of desire to compete. At least my sled gets delivered soon…
Reliable and consistent base hits are more important than the occasional home run. This lineup is all base hits. The fans want to see home runs.
This type of announcement makes it seem to me that the budget is tight. This is probably a result of what happened 3-4 years ago.
What we see on the snow side is not a complete overhaul, but incremental changes. They seem to be building toward something. There are legal and market needs on the snow side that will be driving an acceleration of changes in the near future.
I’m guessing, but on the dirt side, this process seems to be moving at a more sedate pace. The Tracker deal is probably a driving factor, and that may favor a more deliberate approach.
At any rate, this announcement isn’t going to help fans get off the couch to buy. I can’t tell if Textron is simply milking Cat or building incrementally to something worth waiting for. It’s too bad they haven’t made a conscious effort to make that clear.
I would assume AC is restricted the 2021 model year to bring out something new for the anniversary year. However, I do wonder if some small changes are being made? Take the XX, we were made aware the seat change in 2019 with a 130hp. We latter learned the front swaybar changed diameter as well as the rear axles changed twice. Recently, I learned my 2020 came with a different trans shaft- gears 3mm wider for better engagement. So what did the “improve” in 2021? Perhaps the missing driver side bushing in steering box? Guess we’ll find out later.
I am real surprised the Havoc is missing! As stated above, 2020 started off with no Trail, but production made a run of left overs mid year. Perhaps we’ll see this again, run out some stock in smaller volume in a few months? I do like the blue as 2nd color- I would like to see it on the XX mid year like the black last year.
But what I hope to see come 2022- is the wildcat trail come out refurbished into a single seat buggy, 48” wide, with narrower rollbar. Call me crazy, but here in Michigan, some of the 50” trails are too tight around corners where the machine tips on banks and the straight up roll bars smack into trees. I pitched this idea to AC twice- sell it like the new Blast sleds – it be a lower cost throwback to days of Honda Odyssey. Easy to load into pickups- maybe throw in the 600 2-stroke sled engine or Textron’s little 4-stroke they were bringing over from Germany. More the machine they can build in-house here in USA- I am all for!
As for lack of turbo on the XX- you got to believe AC’s hands tied a bit to Yamaha not certifying their engine for turbo yet in their machine. Seemed promising when Yamaha went to new rods in 2019, but nothing released yet. Why they just don’t give out their sidewinder motor for upgrade models- never know? Maybe AC should move to use the Havoc engine revamped with more power naturally….
I have been the one in the past, saying you can’t reinvent the wheel every year, but this concerns me. Is there any engineers left in TRF who can even create a new product anymore? I know they have a new generation sled probably developed, probabaly for the 60th, but what after that? It’s time for Textron to step up or get out…..
CountyCat, as the XX was rolling out we(dealers)were told our version of the Yamaha “has all the good stuff”, and is “turbo ready”. There would be multiple versions of the XX, i.e. Rock Krawler, Dune Edition, etc. Turbo and four-seater soon to follow. All 100% lies, as usual.
Waiting for the E-Z-Go fools to pour money into the dirt division at this point is about like waiting for the tooth fairy to appear.
I sat in a 4 seat XX, and watched a presentation stating that the turbo XX would be out, shortly after NA was released..
I’d be surprised if Kale didn’t drive a 4 seater and/or turbo….
Definitely, disappointing. When textron came on I was hopeful. But dirt and snow from cat since has been nothing but disappointing. They have done nothing that would entice any to switch to cat. And actually I couldn’t wait any longer for a four seater. And sold a prowler and went to polaris rzr 4. Next will be the sleds.
At Glad2BGone, the way Textron had handled dealers was horrific. I too thought the influx of a multi-brand corporation would allow access to tooling and resources that would speed up model changes.
The opposite happened! People never heard of “Textron” name – vehicle sales took a hit, the company gets sued by investors blaming their purchase of AC as reason for their losses. They won that lawsuit, but lost the Canadian suit on sleds. Textron changes heads on off-road, but the whole thing is got a bad spark knock that needs some serious new model buzz fast!
The one model Textron brought in was Stampede / Havoc and it is not here- that vehicle could use 4-door to compete with General. Yamaha sells a turbo kit for their machine, got allowance to race with it- but not selling them to showroom floor, I scratch my head what is going on between them and Textron.
I am very much go-green! But I dislike that new buyers are asked “what’s your thoughts on your dealership appearance?” Rather than “what drew you to the machine and what would like see new or changed?”.
People are getting pretty hot about the offerings of Cat on both dirt and snow. I have one of each and even I, a die hard Cat fan, am disappointed with what is going on. Last year Craig Kennedy talked to the media and fans and indicated that Cat was going to be a bit more transparent but he has been MIA since then. The offerings on the dirt side, especially ATV’s has been abysmal. I love my Alterra and feel it is very underrated but they haven’t offered anything new forever…Cat isn’t Honda, Suzuki, or Kawasaki and they have to compete with Polaris and Ski-Doo/Can-Am for market share. Unfortunately the market share is getting smaller and smaller and there doesn’t appear to be any hope of reprieve. I really feel for the dealers, especially the Canadian dealers…this whole early buy Snowmageddon only just isn’t going to work. without dealers Cat has a good product that will die away…settle with BRP and move on…or else…
I have been waiting to buy a side x side for work and play. As a AC Guy I would love to support the brand and buy something other than a Polaris Ranger. (Those things are like buttholes… everyone has one) The problem with the Prowler is it only goes 50 and I’ll get left in the dust on the roads when trail riding with my Ranger buddies. I don’t want an XX because that is pure sport… and way to loud for my liking. (test road one) Was really hoping AC would make something to compete with the Ranger. Was going to test drive a new Havoc when the 2021’s came out but now that is gone from the line-up as well. Looks like I’m going to have to give in, Join the buttholes and buy a General or a Ranger next spring. I sure hope AC / Textron has something up their sleeve for the 60th otherwise I see this as a sinking ship.
Im not sure what everyone wants? To me an ATV gets a job done, and any of these offerings would work. Id be attracted to the lowest price option personally. I guess whats disappointing is that Textron is painting Arctic Cat brand fans like Bulldog into a corner and forcing them to buy another brand because they don’t offer something in the same category.
Hello Bulldog — The Arctic dirt vehicles sold in big box Cabelas/BassPro are called Tracker Offroad. Tracker lists a 2021 Stampede type vehicle, so i got to believe a new paint scheme Havoc is in works, just not listed yet. I bought Arctic Cat over Tracker as my local dealer is always helpful.
We have 10,000 miles on my wife’s 2015 Wildcat Sport. We want to replace the Sport with a new Sport but apparently not gonna happen. She doesn’t like the XX as she feels it is two big (in stock form she can not reach the pedals and can hardly see out of the cab. Plus she isn’t real excited about the width (64″ vs the Sport’s 60″) lots of gates and bridges with a tight fit and add in the limited visibility I see lots of scraped/cracked plastic. So as long time Arctic Cat riders (both dirt and snow) we are extremely disappointed in the 2021’s. Looks like we will be looking at Polaris RZR’s or the Can Am Maverick Sport.
Reading the responses here as well as on Instagram in regards to The Dirt &Snow products it’s obvious to me that Arctic Cat owners are a passionate bunch when it comes to their brand. It’s tough as a lot of commentary tends to lean towards the negative and rightfully so. I think the Textron deal started off pretty solid for the 2018 model year (I’m more a Snow guy so not as sure how the dirt landscape has changed), but has really been pretty lackluster since then. Sure we had the Alpha and the Blast With its new 400cc engine since then, but still just not quite enough. On the Dirt side The XX seemed like a stellar halo machine for the dirt lineup, was SXS of the year, and then absolutely no follow up from Textron. Hello Textron……4 seat option?? Where have you been
The lack of a strong racing presence last season also took some energy from the brand. Now, I feel like the new race sled releases, and BlackCats announcement gets things back on track as far as showing some energy from corporate to support this brand’s snow division (Along with some level of Social Media presence). What we really need to see is reinvestment into the brand, R&D, and some cool prototype stuff to get excited about (Dirt and Snow). I feel like many have held out hope, myself being in that camp, but it’s getting tough with the feeling the Textron just isn’t putting anything back into a brand that we as consumers and loyal Arctic Cat owners have so much passion and energy for.
I suppose if it needs to stretch a bit further for Textron we can hold out hope for the 60th, and that may be a final pivot point for those loyal ARCTIC cat owners who remain.
I have to echo many of the sentiments here, despite being a snow guy at heart.
Its very concerning to me that Textron/Arctic Cat is having trouble even retaining its most faithful buyers, let alone bringing anyone from a different brand in. Their new advertising campaign emphasizing the “legacy” seems to even recognize this. However, the innovation just doesn’t seem to be there anymore (if I’m wrong and the 60th reveals something amazing I will gladly eat crow).
On the snow side, at 10 model years the Procross is now the oldest chassis on snow since the rider forward revolution beginning in 03 by the Rev. Only the former xp/xs comes close at 9 model years.
The blast is a path to building the next generation of riders and something I respect whole heartedly. But as a kid, the reason I loved my Kitty Cat and various Jags and El tires so much is because the old man was riding the halo sleds! The 650 wildcats, the ZRTs and Thundercats, the F7s, etc.
The dirt side sees even less innovation.
I want to see this brand thrive. I dont want to keep it all negative, because my Procross sleds have been amazing performers and, imo, the best looking sleds on snow. But really none have them have really created too much “outside the brand” interest from our group. The exception maybe being the 998 turbo, but that also comes with valid reservations about going from 2 stroke to 4 stroke.
The excitement on the dirt side has waned significantly after the unveil of the XX. As others have mentioned, no turbo, no 4 seat, a fraction of the aftermarket support, seemingly non existent racing support.
With the other juggernauts involved, championing this brand is harder every single season that goes by.
I hope someone with some clout at Textron is reading these comments. This is the most loyal, die-hard Arctic Cat crowd on the entire internet. If the comments here are this negative, maybe it’s time to take notice?
Eliminating boatloads of loyal, passionate, dedicated employees from TRF, cutting too many dealers, vague, if not non-existant communication from corporate, and bold new graphics on model release after model release is a brutal combination… even for someone like me, who would never consider a different brand.
I’m not sure what it takes to get through to the seemingly tone-deaf, aparently egotistic decision makers at Textron, but we need something, ANYTHING, to get excited about! Do something, or sell the brand… because this awkward in-between is intolerable!
“Based on consumer and dealer feedback, Arctic Cat has simplified its side-by-side lineup ….”
Not trying to be overly negative here but you have to wonder where the consumer and dealer feedback data came from? You certainly don’t get that feeling from this site, facebook, other internet sites and discussions with fellow riders.
I have ridden Arctic Cats since the early 70’s with a 1967 Panther being our first sled. We now have a 20 ZR8000 LTD and a 2021 ZR8000 LTD on the way. On the dirt side we have a 2018 Wildcat XX and the before mentioned 2015 Wildcat Sport. I am very loyal/passionate about the brand; we have an excellent dealer in MotoProz so I really don’t want to switch brands.
Here is to hoping there will be some changes!
I’ve been die-hard Arctic Cat since 1969 – as die-hard as anyone can be. Other than a few deviations, I’ve owned Arctic Cat snowmobiles all of these years. I currently have six vintage Cat snowmobiles, a Wildcat Trail, and two Cat four wheelers (550 XT and a 300 DVX). Now that Textron has taken the Cat franchise away from every single dealer within a reasonable distance from my home (I was told by every one of them they weren’t given a choice, the rep just walked in and told them they’re done being a Cat dealer.), then seeing this lackluster lineup of 2021 dirt products, I think I’m finished buying anything with the Arctic Cat name on it. Textron nearly destroyed Polaris years ago, it looks like they’re on their way to doing the same thing to Arctic Cat. As a life-long loyal Cat guy, it’s painful to see this happening.
Arctic was birthed on the backs of small town dealers in the snow belt selling 25 to 50 machines a year. By axing all these dealers and making parts delivery an iffy situation, it’s recipe for failure. Arctic stopped being Arctic a long time ago. I buy my oil and generic parts for my vintage sled from the local sympathetic Polaris dealer and my Cat clothing online. I’m always hopeful they turn it around and go back to innovation mutual respect and growth. The sled race team did a great job last season with two year old equipment. You can’t Walmart your way out of this Textron. You need to grow your dealers. I sorely miss mine.
I feel like everyone else. Textron is killing the “Arctic Cat” brand. So far everything they touched turned sour, as for example trying to rebrand Cat ATV/UTV under the TEXTRON banner, that was dumb, the snowmagedon is a disaster for both dealer and riders, no sled to be purchased unless you bought last spring. Did you ever think about the impulse buyer or the person who now can afford to buy a sled?
Textron also killed the “Cat’s Pride Club” It was filed with cool things such as specialty clothing and trinkets. I know this drove my Doo friends crazy.
The accessories have diminished next to nothing and their website still don’t have pictures of half of the stuff in it.
The Prowler Pro section has next to no pictures of the accessories to this date.
I feel for the great people at TRF who are so dedicated to the Brand and hope Textron will wake up and not repeat what they did with Polaris
Just received the Q3 AC dealer survey results. All the charts and graphs are “under water” i.e. negative. In their words, “…at or near historic lows…”. The dealer comments are almost totally negative, and go on for pages.
AC ATV market share is down 3 to 3%, SxS down 1 to 5%, and Snow down 1 to 14%.
Textron has shown nothing that tells me there is anything in sight to turn this around.
Textron seems only interested in big box volume (Pro bass shops) shutting out AC dealers or even under cutting prices to loyal dealers who kept AC in business all these years I have lost all hope for AC Textron is on a mission to faze out its AC dealers in the near future for there big box sales this will permanently end AC as we know it. The only reason is to this is this so called 2021 line up what a joke I throw my arms in the air I give up Textron please for GOD sake sell AC and maybe it could still save it self remember what they have done to Polaris years ago
i just got back from Rangeley Maine a month ago with my AC 700ATV.Love my ATV but was hoping AC was going to come out with something bigger in the ATV big bore category which they definately need to compete. looks like i will unfortunately be shopping elsewhere which is sad. In Maine i was there for four days and out of the hundreds of ATVs and side by sides i saw all over the trails, i think i may have seen 2 or 3 other Arctic Cats. That told me something about where they are heading. Very sad. I love the brand. My ATVs have always been dependable. Like i said i and a few other people i know were hoping for a bigger bore in the ATV field but that looks like a no go.
While we saw with disappointment the new lineup – I have yet to read why they discontinued the Havoc? After being a loyal AC snowmobiler for years and must have 3 or 4 AC ATV’s, I also was looking for a side by side utility vehicle, and popped for the Havoc when they came out. Like you others too, I looked at the Polaris UTV’s and while I was impressed, my heart is AC green, but now just look at all the new models and nice features you can get from Polaris. Just having a rear differential with a lock seems like a no brainer on a UTV, but now from Textron??
The plastic split windshield the dealer recommended is still a sore point with me as I have used the Havoc, and would like to replace it with a glass windshield with a wiper (wish someone with experience would have pushed me in that direction originally) but there are little to no aftermarket parts for the Havoc available – why would a mfr make parts for a discontinued model which is not sold in huge quantities? I’m not sure you can even order the OEM windshield any more either.
And, like my old AC 500 ATV, since the front tires stick out past the fenders, it is a mud flinging machine. At least AC had a factory ‘fix’ to put fender extensions on the ATV to fix that problem…..I finally put my own fender extensions/mud flaps on my Havoc, but how embarrassing to Textron to sell a machine to be used on muddy trails which showers you with mud from even from wet grass! And – no parking brake?
While I made the commitment for the Havoc, I’m watching Polaris for their EV models – as one would think with the Bad Boy cousins, Textron would be more customer focused with options and features.
Any suggestions for the glass windshield??
well i was considering a new wildcat trail, but i guess i’ll look at other brands.. your loss textron
the Stampede and Havoc are incredible all purpose machines. On the ranch or on mountain trails. I would not be caught in a Prowler. No power. No speed. Poor handling and cargo space. I would drive a Ranger before i was caught dead in a Prowler. If Textron is going to sell then get off of the pot and let’s get back to something serious!
Textron is just in the process of hammering the final few nails in the AC coffin.
They aren’t listening, I’ve emailed them many times, no response. They are downgrading the features. What is this RTS 4×4 giant mechanical lever? What is it, 2005? No diff lock? But they still want $13k CAD for a 700. I can get an 850 from other brands for less and have more features, more than 1 dealer per province, better support, better accessories, better performance.
Don’t get me wrong, love my 17 Alterra 700 XT. But I will not suggest anyone buy an AC solely based on Textron being the worst, and the future looking bleek.
I have been contemplating a sport utility sxs for a while now, the havoc was too on my list, now it doesn’t even exist. Worst of all, if you want to know anything about an AC product, your better off looking it up through tracker. For instance, find out how an oem Alterra quick mount plow works. Nothing, but there is a demo from tracker on YouTube. Pathetic.
RIP AC