If you are located in or around the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, here’s your chance to ride the brand-new 600 and 858 Catalyst models!
Whether you’re testing the smooth handling of the 600 or unleashing the raw power of the 858, it’s sure to be a fun experience!
Ride Information
- Each event will have 4-5 units
- 18yr old with ID to ride
- No alcohol allowed. Persons drinking will not be allowed to demo.
- Riders must supply their own riding gear
Day 1 – Friday Feb. 21st, 10am till 3pm
M&M Powersports Hancock MI
Day 2 – Saturday, Feb. 22nd, 10am till 3pm
Munising Motorsports Shingleton MI
Day 3 – Sunday, Feb. 23rd, 10am till 3pm
Adventure Centre Marquette MI
For more information, please contact the dealers listed above.
Does anyone know if there will be a 2026 snowmobile lineup?
It is interesting that they would put on demo rides if there wasn’t. or maybe just a lot of unsold 25’s sitting in TRF they want to move, who knows.
Rumors on Wall Street suggest this may be it for A/C. Money to loan is drying up rather quickly. Enjoy the moments of riding now. Tomorrow may not be.
We can only hope.
Cat was sold. Have not announced the buyer but the sale was approved. guessing this is why there doing Demos.
Stop spreading rumors that Arctic Cat was sold. If it was sold the press release from them announcing the May layoffs and final shutdown (which came after you made this statement) wouldn’t have said they were still exploring strategic options.
Hopefully the rumor is true ! it was tough watching the unveiling of the 2026 Skidoo lineup on the interweb yesterday
and wondering if we will see if our guys will be able to do the same thing in the near future. keep the faith !! Go Cat !!!
I would find it hard to believe that there is not a plan behind the scenes to continue to build sleds in the future. It would be interesting to see if the sleds that are used for the demo rides look to be 26 prototypes, or just leftover 25s. I do not think they would be doing this if there was not a new ownership plan behind the scenes.
exactly jim w.
who would want to test ride new sleds to purchase, if the manufacturer is closing?
and risk not getting any warranty and/or parts in near future?
but if it’s already sold to another buyer, why not announce it asap to bring in new customers and more sales?
The demo sleds ended up being the beat up ones from last years rides
demo rides for a company that’s essentially shut down?
weird…
Cat was supposed to start ops back up on a limited basis 1Q ‘25 to close out existing sales obligations.
Has that happened?
Might be a way for good ol Textron to dump the rest of their inventory. A potential buyer wouldn’t have to have as much money. Just a guess, let’s hope Argo buys it, not CFMoto. Fingers crossed for a third life for Cat.
it has to because ski doo is selling 26 120and 200s. cat makes those.
on my first ride this year, I finally caw some Catalysts on the trail. 858’s. The riders said they loved them. Poor guys had to drive over 9 hours just to get to some snow. Last season was very brief for me, and never saw one. Man, that’s a good looking sled on the snow. This whole situation is so sad
The demo rides are basically free to textron, other than gas and oil. Its not like they are sending a semi with 20 plus machines and a full crew. Its reps and dealers, textron has a bunch of units to move and get off the books before they can sell, or shut down.
I hope they can fix things. However I’m a die hard vintage guy so I’ll ride Cat no matter what.
THIEF RIVER FALLS, Minn. — Minnesota’s State Rapid Response Team (SRRT) has received notice from Textron that approximately 385 Arctic Cat employees will be laid off this May in Thief River Falls.
The layoffs will take place from May 8 to May 22, the release said. Affected positions include — but are not limited to — technicians, programmers, custodians, engineers, supervisors, painters, inspectors, managers, analysts, security, drivers and welders.
https://www.grandforksherald.com/news/minnesota/approximately-385-layoffs-upcoming-at-thief-river-falls-arctic-cat-facilities-according-to-textron-letter
St Cloud brings the number of folks out of a job to over 400 according to this:
Arctic Cat announced it will cease its operations in St. Cloud, layoffs coming in mid-March at St. Cloud Arctic Cat facility, company says.
Arctic Cat is laying off more than 400 workers at two Minnesota plants in St. Cloud and Thief River Falls.
https://www.stcloudlive.com/business/19-layoffs-coming-in-mid-march-at-st-cloud-arctic-cat-facility-company-says
So it would appear final shutdown of the company is in May and I would assume liquidation of remaining assets sometime after that. So much for the people claiming it’s already been sold. If it was sold as a going concern it wouldn’t be Textron sending out these notices. I’m not saying something still couldn’t happen before than, but it’s not sold as of now.
My 2 cents: As long as Textron owns the Arctic Cat name, there will not be another snowmobile, ATV, SxS made. I would guess the factory is currently building out everything they can with the remaining parts, motors on hand. This is why you’re seeing dealers selling new sleds at truckload year end super cheap prices that they are buying from Textron.
As far as filling current orders, no clue who has any product on order? Besides maybe contracts they are filling for Bass Pro/ Tracker and Ski-Doo with the 120’s and 200’s. They could be building out a few years worth of 200’s for Ski-Doo if Arctic Cat is indeed not being sold off relatively soon.
My assumption is CFmoto is buying the St. Cloud motor plant at a minimum based on well placed rumors. Maybe just the real-estate part of it for themselves to avoid tariffs.
TRF plant, who knows? Maybe CFmoto, Argo, Kawasaki, again possibly only as real-estate deal.
Textron may hold onto the Arctic Cat name until somebody is willing to pay their asking price. No different than the Indian name bouncing around for years and years between different owners with no real product lineup until Polaris purchased the rights to the name back in like 2014.
Right now the future doesn’t look very good for Arctic Cat. Maybe what’s happening with the closure of the TRF plant is final step in take over of a new company so they can re-hire all the employees under new ownership. But I don’t believe that is really necessary. New ownership would have ways to work around that by laying off and rehiring without all these press releases.
My guess is there is not currently a deal in place to purchase Arctic Cat. But there are some serious talks happening regarding the sale of the factory’s/ real-estate. Maybe in a couple years someone will purchase the Arctic Cat name and re-fire things up. Unfortunately all Cat really has going for itself is the Catalyst platform. But snowmobiles aren’t enough of a revenue stream on their own, so not very attractive to potential buyers.
Hopefully I’m wrong and a company comes in and saves the day. But all signs are not pointing in that direction currently.
I’d say at least for the TRF plant and the brand assets nothing has transpired yet so they are going forward with a total layoff followed by liquidation of assets plan. That could change if a buyer emerges, however the press release today would lead one to believe that nothing has happened. I also have heard that CFMOTO might be buying the engine plant. That means that if Arctic Cat does come back to life either they have to source their engines from CFMOTO or another supplier. There are companies that would be interested in the manufacturing plant in TRF, but whether or not they want the Arctic Cat brand and intellectual property is a whole different matter. The brand has a 50-50 shot at surviving. No one knows at this point.
If anyone believes cat has a new owner, or ever will, I have a bridge in Brooklyn to sell you. No one is going to buy cat, because textron isn’t going to sell it. They are going to keep cat dead to get the tax write off. Meanwhile, the building falls into disrepair, ie, pipes freezing and bursting, condensation causing everything to rust, wildlife and or graffiti, etc. Face the facts. Cat is dead and isn’t coming back.
Why was my comment not approved? I was just speaking the truth.
That’s fine. It doesn’t matter. Cat is dead and in a few months it will be official. They allowed themselves to be destroyed. Should’ve died like a man then let those cocksuckers at fucktron buy them just to kill them later. Who cares. I shoulda bought a Polaris.
Unfortunately with winters not being like the old days, the economy struggling, prices of snowmobiles for maybe 2 months at most of riding all 3 manufacturers are or should we say were struggling. Arctic Cat being a small company and not being able to keep up with Doo and Poo definitely hasn’t helped them. Snowmobiling isn’t like it used to be years ago and lots of people have gotten out of it. We had over 25 of us that rode in the 80s to mid 2000s every weekend we had a great group. Unfortunately by the late 2000s winters had fallen off and sled prices were just getting to be too expensive for just a few weekends a year. Sure miss the good old days. I wish Arctic Cat luck hopefully they can make a come back, lots of heritage there and great people worked and developed innovative designs over the years. Unfortunately with the lack of snow, time, arthritis and cost to trade up for a new snowmobile at my dealer I sold my new 24 and got out. After 50 plus years of riding it was a tough decision but just not worth it anymore to have one.The old gang I rode with still have no interest in purchasing another snowmobile they’ve all moved on from the sport. Sure be nice for the good old days to roll back in again! A guy can dream I guess! Thanks Cat for all the memories and great friends I met snowmobiling.
According to an article posted last night on the Supertrax website, Brad Darling from Argo and a group of business leaders were at Cat on March 5th inspecting the manufacturing facility.
Could a deal be in the works to purchase Cat outright, or does this represent the start of a liquidation of assets?
Considering that every Argo sold in the US will be 25% more since Tuesday it makes sense for someone like argo or BRP to purchase at least the plant and production equipment.
If the sale to Argo were to go through, would that mean the end of Cat’s dirt division since Argo apparently already has a solid presence in that market segment?
AC’s dirt division has been dead for years now, It never recovered from the name change. Add to that textron killed off 90% of the line up, and doesn’t even build a machine to compete in the best selling segments.
That’s all well and good, but for now the dirt division still exists even if it pales in comparison to what it once was.
So the question is still valid- What will Argo do with the dirt division if it buys Cat since Argo already has a strong presence in that market segment? Close it down? Keep it but just sell rebranded Argo products? Maintain a separate R&D and manufacturing operation at Cat? Other?
Argo ATV’s are rebadged Kymco ATV’s.
BRP has the Evinrude Plant in Wisconsin sitting empty that I know of so they can build in Wisconsin it’s funny that no Minnesota rep or T T WALZ SAID BOO. SINCE ITS UP IN ROCKS & COWS COMPANY AND I THINK THERE IS ALSO SOME THINK WE ARE JUST OF BUNCH STUPID YANKEES …. UP HERE
In response to JRamstad, historically, Argo ATVs were built by TGB, not Kymco.
Either way, not house built. Thanks though. Never heard of TGB personally.
Arctic Cat only builds the 600 out of their entire atv line up
Sadly, it isn’t promising; the reality of it is the depressed market and AC’s diminished market share for snow and especially dirt products doesn’t make investment in these assets attractive. Weather, inventory backlog, demographics and the competition makes it a herculean task to compete profitably. As far as dirt is concerned, the competition is so much more vast and includes both domestic and foreign players who currently offer a broader line of products – starting from scratch or with the current AC dirt portfolio is unlikely. The only likely scenario is purchasing the plants and equipment to manufacture their current dirt products. That said, the oppressive, high cost business environment in MN is a negative and would incentivize buyers to look elsewhere in the US, i.e. Alabama, should they desire more capacity – unlikely.
I welcome new ownership and new ideas. As much as I love my newer Arctic Cats, pricing is chasing buyers away. Manufacturers need to provide a few simple sleds to entice new buyers. I purchased an old 1997 XLT SP for fun. It’s not as fast as my Riot nor does it handle as well. But it is still fun to ride. We need more people in our sport for it to thrive. I believe it will always exist in the north but the cost of the sport will rise with less participation.
We are experiencing a loss of grooming revenue this year in Minnesota because of the decrease in snowmobile registrations. Low snow years are definitely hurting registrations, but will they increase under high pricing? Many people are moving to side by sides.
Can anyone confirm if production is currently running for the companies they make units for?
Tracker, BRP, and Caterpillar? We have a short window here to get hopefully one last factory tour.
AFIK they haven’t mad stuff for Caterpillar for quite some time. Pretty sure only 3 years of production ’18,’19, and ’20, another brilliant
There was a New Holland version, too.
The New Holland version was based off of the best selling fully Textron designed Stampede! lol
The current Prowler Pro/Tracker UTV’s were developed very closely with people from Caterpillar from the start. Caterpillar found the industrial market to be a tough one to be in with a UTV and exited.
Ah yes, the Stampede minus the “cab and a half” option. I forgot about that.