Indian targets growth after tough finish to 2025
Indian Motorcycle has eliminated approximately 70 positions as it restructures following its separation from Polaris, while planning to recruit up to 60 additional manufacturing employees at its Spirit Lake factory in Iowa.
The company is also filling as many as ten existing positions in finance, corporate administration and other business functions previously supported by Polaris employees.
Indian describes the overall staffing impact as “net-neutral”, with recruitment intended to offset the positions eliminated across several divisions. However, both hiring figures are expressed as maximums, and the announcement does not provide a timetable for completing recruitment.
The restructuring follows private equity firm Carolwood LP’s acquisition of a majority stake in Indian Motorcycle from Polaris, completed on February 2, 2026. Indian is continuing to establish the manufacturing and corporate functions required to operate independently.
Spirit Lake manufacturing expands
According to Indian, Spirit Lake has recently added engine manufacturing and strengthened its paint operation. The proposed manufacturing jobs will support those expanded capabilities.
“Expanding manufacturing capabilities and jobs in Spirit Lake and building a team dedicated to the needs of this business are critical aspects of our long-term plan,” Indian Motorcycle CEO Mike Kennedy said.
“That said, we are also making some difficult organizational decisions that are reducing some positions.”
Indian says the approximately 70 positions were eliminated following a seven-month review of staffing overlap and structural inefficiencies as the business unwinds its former arrangements with Polaris.
The company has not provided a breakdown of the affected positions by department or location, or disclosed the anticipated financial savings.
Kennedy acknowledged the impact of the latest restructuring on Indian employees and their families.
“We are incredibly grateful for their work and are committed to treating them with the utmost care and respect throughout this process.”
North American sales before the ownership change
Polaris’s 2025 annual report records a low-single-digit percentage decline in Indian Motorcycle’s North American retail unit sales compared with 2024. The comparable North American market for 900cc cruiser, touring and standard motorcycles fell by a high-single-digit percentage.
Indian therefore outperformed that market across 2025, although Polaris’s fourth-quarter results showed Indian’s North American retail unit sales down by a high-single-digit percentage compared with Q4 2024, while the comparable market increased by a mid-single-digit percentage.
Wider changes to engine production
There is also a wider manufacturing transition behind the Spirit Lake announcement. Earlier this year, Polaris confirmed that Indian’s powertrain production would move from its Osceola facility in Wisconsin to Iowa. Polaris said the loss of that production volume meant there would no longer be sufficient work to maintain operations at Osceola.
Polaris subsequently filed an April closure notice identifying 189 employees whose employment was expected to end during a phased shutdown, scheduled to conclude around January 31, 2027. Those planned reductions concern the Polaris facility and are separate from the approximately 70 positions identified in Indian’s latest announcement.
