Polaris, a company best known for making snowmobiles and ATVs has
announced plans to build a new production facility in Huntsville,
Alabama. The company says the 600,000 square-foot facility will focus on
off-road vehicle production.
This new facility will complement our already strong and growing
North American manufacturing footprint by reducing pressure on our
existing facilities and enable each to remain focused on their current
product lines as we continue to meet the demand for our innovative,
quality products,” said Ken Pucel of Polaris.
Those product lines already include motorcycles, snowmobiles,
personal watercraft, ATVs, electric and defence vehicles. It's rumored
that the new the Alabama facility be part of a long-range plan to build
street legal vehicles, such as the Slingshot.
The new Slingshot vehicle is marketed by Polaris as a
three-wheeled motorcycle, but uses an automotive drivetrain (notably a
GM 2.4L auto engine last seen in the Pontiac Solstice/Saturn Sky) and is
steered and driven like a sports car. Seating is side-by-side and the
controls are automotive, including a conventional steering wheel. The
cockpit features an LCD screen with Bluetooth integration and a backup
camera. It may be a motorcycle to Polaris and the US DOT, but it’s
essentially a sports car.
