(Video above: Polaris introducing the 2016 Slingshot)
When Alabama’s new Polaris manufacturing facility gets up and running this spring, some of the workers will be assembling a vehicle that more closely resembles something off the set of a Batman movie than it does the world-class off-road vehicles Polaris is best known for.
The Polaris Slingshot is a reverse trike (two wheels in the front, one in the back) that has two seats and one purpose: “pure driving freedom.” The 2016 model begins at $21,500.
The vehicle was on display at the Alabama Capitol this week and quickly became the center of attention.
The Slingshot is one of the vehicles Polaris will assemble at its new Alabama plant, beginning this spring. pic.twitter.com/DoWC9PxHE3
— Made in Alabama (@MadeinAL) February 11, 2016
Already a leader in automobile and aerospace manufacturing, Alabama will soon be one of the world’s largest manufacturers of off-road vehicles. Almost exactly a year ago Governor Robert Bentley joined state and local leaders in Huntsville to announce Polaris Industries has chosen Alabama to produce off-road vehicles and create up to 2,000 new jobs for North Alabama.
The project is worth about $127 million total. The state offered the company just over $30 million in incentives and will also train workers for the company, which is an additional incentive worth approximately $20 million. Polaris is expected to employ 1,700 workers at an average of $18 per hour.
The company’s new 600,000 square-foot facility will be located southwest of Huntsville City Center. The 453-acre Huntsville site offers Polaris close proximity to its key customer base in the Southeast U.S. and strong logistics network, according a release sent out by the governors’s office. Equipped with state-of-the-art technologies, the plant will support several core processes including, vehicle assembly, chassis and body painting, welding, fabrication and injection molding.
“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, Polaris’s Executive Vice President of Operations, Engineering, and Lean. “We are grateful to the city of Huntsville and the state of Alabama for their support as we invest in our shared future.”
State leaders credited Alabama’s success in industrial recruitment to what they have dubbed the “Accelerate Alabama Plan,” a three-year road map to boost economic development in the state. Manufacturing is Alabama’s largest employment sector and now accounts for more than 16 percent of all jobs in the state.
“At Polaris, making great products is more than just a job – it’s a creed the company lives by,” Alabama Commerce Secretary Greg Canfield said. “That’s what we do in Alabama as well. Our workers assemble and engineer great products from automobiles to ships and rockets to aircraft. Polaris and Alabama are a perfect fit.”
