Polaris acquires engine developer swissauto Powersports

Polaris Industries Inc. today announced its acquisition of swissauto Powersports. Based in Burgdorf, Switzerland, swissauto has expertise in designing and developing high-performance and high-efficiency engines and innovative vehicles. According to Polaris, the acquisition will further strengthen the company’s global engine and vehicle design capability while also enhancing Polaris’ European presence.

Founded in 1987, swissauto’s core capabilities are 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 swissauto.

In addition to recreational vehicle engines, swissauto also has a strong tradition of developing top-tier 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 aggressively against larger Japanese OEMs during the late 1990s. This bike achieved the pole position twice during it’s first season of racing and ranked in the top ten several times.

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

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