Victory Motorcycles is an American motorcycle manufacturer with its final assembly facility in Spirit Lake, Dickinson County, northern Iowa, United States. It began production of its vehicles in 1998, and began winding down operations in January of 2017.
Its parent company, Polaris Industries, created the firm following the modern success of Harley-Davidson. Victory’s motorcycles are designed to compete directly with Harley-Davidson and similar American-style motorcycle brands, with V-twin engines and touring, sport-touring, and cruiser configurations. The first Victory, the V92C, was announced in 1997 and began selling in 1998. Victory was profitable for many years (beginning in 2002) but was in the red three of its last five years.
Polaris, a Minnesota company with annual sales in 2012 of $3.2 billion, was one of the earliest manufacturers of snowmobiles. Polaris also manufactures ATVs, side-by-side off-road vehicles, electric vehicles and, until 2004, personal watercraft. Seeking to diversify its product line, and observing the sales enjoyed by Harley-Davidson and similar manufacturers, the company decided to produce a large motorcycle built entirely in the United States.
Victory vehicles follow the traditional American style of a heavier motorcycle that increasingly became associated with the Harley-Davidson brand in economically advanced nations after the Second World War, rather than more modern racing-inspired designs.
In 2010 Polaris engaged in a major expansion of production and marketing of the motorcycle. In 2011 Polaris bought the Indian motorcycle brand.
