
Polaris' Slingshot And RZR Offer Unforgettable Behind-The-Wheel Experiences
September 30, 2019 - 12:23 pm by Latifah Muhammad
Polaris is taking customers on a wild ride. The company behind more than 30 products including off-roading vehicles and snowmobiles offers up unforgettable experiences that cater to your inner adrenaline junky.
Earlier in the month, the powersports giant flew members of the press and social media influencers, including Snoop Dogg's son Cordell Broadus, rapper Bia and BMX rider Nigel Slyvester, to Eugene, Oregon for the Polaris All Out Adventure. The daylong event gave participants a behind-the-wheel experience with the Polaris RZR and Polaris Slingshot.
After being in business for more than 60 years, Polaris continues to expand its reach to include a diverse group of consumers. “[It's about] creating accessibility to power sports and an interest that maybe folks didn’t have before because they saw it as something that you had to be off in the woods [to do], or you have to be off in the snow,” Joey Lindahl- Marketing Manager, Customer Growth & Engagement told VIBE.
“We make all that stuff, too — but now this is another option and it is really something that we see resonate with a lot more people than maybe have been our other products in the past.” The company has seen “organic growth” among “young riders, women, and people of color,” added Lindahl.
Among the lineup of impressive creations, the Polaris Slingshot steals the show. The sleek, three-wheel autocycle reaches speeds of up to 130 mph and was designed by Tiger Bracy, Polaris' Senior Manager of Industrial Design.
Bracy has worked with Polaris for more than a decade and is among the small group of black designers in his field. And even after years in the business, Bracy still gets excited to see his designs go from paper to pavement.
“I’ve been doing it so long that I’m used to it,” Bracy shared with VIBE when asked of his reaction to seeing a Slingshot on the road. “I think the first time that I saw something [that I designed] it wasn’t on-road if was an off-road product. It wasn’t [about] seeing someone on it, it was it being manufactured and coming together. Because in my brain I can see this but it’s still on paper, once it's out and it’s there and people are enjoying it? [My] mind [is] blown.”
More customers have identified with the Slingshot than the company anticipated, which allows Polaris to learn more about a diversified group of buyers. Although the Slingshot doesn't have a specific target audience, it was designed to “reach a different buyer,” Bracy explained.
“It’s not for everybody,” he said. “It’s a polarizing vehicle in terms of how you drive it, how it looks, but we wanted to take that risk to go find a new area.”
See more in the video below.