POLARIS SUPPLY CHAIN UPDATE | News

“We understand that many of our customers have been enduring a frustrating delay to receive some parts and accessories for their vehicles over recent months.  We wanted to acknowledge and apologise for the inconvenience caused and provide a quick explanation and update on this most important issue” Polaris Australia said.

“Polaris Australia & New Zealand has always prided itself on being able to provide our Dealers with a first time Parts supply rate of their parts and accessories orders in the very high 90% range.  We know that being a long way from the source of manufacture of our products (Mostly North America) can add to the delay in supply and so to allow for this we have always carried extensive stocks of all fast-moving service items and accessories.  In addition, it is our policy to air freight weekly to ensure that those parts, that are not in stock and required urgently, are supplied as quickly as possible.  This approach has worked well for many years and allowed us to keep pace with the ever-growing demand. Unfortunately, this system cannot compensate if Parts are simply not available and cargo space is also extremely limited.

“We are sure you are well aware of the impacts that COVID, the Global shortage of Semi-Conductors and the China Trade War is having across many industry sectors and Polaris, along with every other automotive manufacturer, is directly impacted by each of these situations.

“There has been very significant supply challenges from our component and parts suppliers around the world due to COVID interruptions to their operations and then when supply of these parts is available the challenging nature of Global Logistics continues to cause unreliable supply and delays. The significant reduction of passenger air travel to Australia has drastically reduced the number of flights and as a result, the available cargo space is also extremely limited and sought after.  We still air freight every week but we simply cannot get the cargo space we need.

“In terms of sea freight, the Global shipping crisis is real and the availability of Shipping Containers and Space on vessels is at an all-time low.  Of course, all of these supply challenges are occurring at a time when the global demand for our products is at an all-time high.

“We want you to know that our team in Australia and the USA are working constantly to expedite the delivery of parts, accessories and also vehicles.  We do our best to keep your local Polaris Dealer informed on the ETA of incoming shipments but this is a constantly changing situation due to the Logistics challenges mentioned above.

“The good news is that we do see the situation steadily improving. In the last two weeks alone we have seen airfreight availability and lead-times improve significantly and our Australian Parts distribution center has received over 20 sea freight containers of parts and accessories.

“We know that most of our Polaris customers use their vehicles for work and so downtime is precious.  Please be assured that we are continuing to focus on improving the supply situation as quickly as possible.  Please keep in touch with your Local Polaris Dealer for more specific information on any item you may be waiting on.