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GEM
E4 street legal electric car
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Minneapolis, MN (4/26/2011) -
Polaris Industries Inc. (NYSE: PII) today
announced an agreement to acquire Global Electric
Motorcars LLC (GEM), a wholly owned Fargo,
N.D. based subsidiary of Chrysler Group LLC
and manufacturer of premium electric-powered
vehicles. GEM is the recognized leader within
the low-speed vehicle market, with a well-respected
brand and approximately $30 million in sales
during the 2010 calendar year. Since the company
was established in 1998, they have placed
over 45,000 electric-powered vehicles on the
road worldwide. GEM has developed business-to-business
sales expertise within the fleet and government
vehicle markets, and has created a competitive
advantage with core competencies in make-to-order
vehicle fulfillment and mobile service support.
“GEM provides Polaris with an established
position in the low-emission small vehicle
market and supports Polaris’ strategy
of penetrating on-road market segments poised
for growth,” said Scott Wine, Polaris
chief executive officer. “We are excited
about the outlook for growth within this market
space, and are looking forward to developing
even stronger growth prospects for the GEM
business.”
“Our vision is to accelerate profitable
sales growth for GEM, by combining Polaris’
strength in new product innovation with the
most-recognized brand in the low speed vehicle
market space,” said Mike Jonikas, Vice
President of the On-Road Vehicle Division.
“These new product efforts for GEM will
be supported by an expanded distribution presence
within select domestic and international markets.”
The agreement to acquire GEM will officially
close within the next 60 days once Polaris
secures the required state sales certifications
to sell GEM products. During this interim
period, since Polaris will not yet have officially
acquired GEM, operations will proceed as usual
and Polaris will continue to learn and understand
the GEM business through information exchange.
Following this interim period, Polaris will
be in a position to outline specific plans
for the GEM business.
Photos/Multimedia Gallery Available:
http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/mmg.cgi?eid=6695985&lang=en
More images and information on GEM vehicles
available at: http://www.gemcar.com/media/default.asp?ID=308
About Polaris
With annual 2010 sales of $1.991 billion,
Polaris designs, engineers, manufactures and
markets off-road vehicles (ORVs), including
all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) and the Polaris
RANGER® Side X Side vehicles, snowmobiles
and Victory motorcycles for recreational and
utility use and has recently introduced a
new on-road electric powered neighborhood
vehicle.
Polaris is a recognized leader
in the snowmobile industry; and one of the
largest manufacturers of ORVs in the world.
Victory motorcycles, established in 1998 and
representing the first all-new American-made
motorcycle from a major company in nearly
60 years, are making in-roads into the cruiser
and touring motorcycle marketplace. Polaris
also enhances the riding experience with a
complete line of Pure Polaris apparel, accessories
and parts, available at Polaris dealerships.
Polaris Industries Inc. trades
on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol
“PII”, and the Company is included
in the S&P MidCap 400 stock price index.
Information about the complete line of Polaris
products, apparel and vehicle accessories
are available from authorized Polaris dealers
or anytime from the Polaris homepage at www.polarisindustries.com.
About Global Electric
Motorcars LLC (GEM)
As a wholly owned subsidiary of Chrysler Group
LLC, Chrysler Group Global Electric Motorcars
LLC (GEM) is the market leader in the low-speed,
Neighborhood Electric Vehicle (NEV) industry
and has more than 45,000 GEM battery-electric
vehicles on the road worldwide. GEM cars are
used by local, state and national government
agencies, resorts, master-planned communities,
universities, medical and corporate campuses,
as well as by sports teams, taxi-shuttle services
and individual consumers.
The six GEM passenger and
utility models are legal on most streets with
posted speeds of 35 mph or less and have many
of the same features of regular cars, but
are much more economical in price and fuel
consumption. GEM cars are eligible for incentives
and tax credits from clean-air districts and
other governmental agencies.
To date, GEM cars have driven
more than 450 million emission-free miles
and have saved more than 20 million gallons
of gasoline. They also have prevented more
than 190 tons of pollutants from reaching
the air.
