Polaris Acquires World Motorcycle GP Engine Developer

Polaris Industries announced the acquisition of the powersports division of swissauto, which will continue to operate in the current swissauto facility located in Burgdorf, Switzerland. The automotive division of swissauto, however, was not involved in this acquisition and will continue to operate autonomously.

swissauto Powersports has expertise in designing and developing high-performance and high-efficiency engines and its acquisition aims to further strengthen Polaris’ global engine and vehicle design capability and therefore enhance the company’s European presence.

“Swissauto has industry leading powertrain design and development capabilities and a strong understanding of turbo-charging and high-performance engines,” Polaris Chief Executive Officer, Scott Wine, said in a release. “This acquisition directly supports our stated objectives to be the best in powersports and a global market leader.”

Founded in 1987, swissauto has a record in development, prototyping and manufacturing of internal combustion engines. Polaris has a long history of working with swissauto. The high-performance, four-stroke Weber engine that Polaris uses in several current snowmobile models was developed by the company.

In addition to recreational vehicle engines, swissauto also has a strong tradition of developing racing engines for World Motorcycle GP. The company’s V4 2-stroke 500 cc engine drove 29 wins, 41 Poles and 3 World Championships during the 1990s.

A completely new racing bike was also developed by swissauto and competed against larger Japanese OEMs during the late 1990s. This bike achieved the pole position twice during its first season of racing and ranked in the top ten several times.