The Polaris XPEDITION is Charting a New Path with Polaris on May 16
Medina, MN — You would be forgiven if the name Polaris Xpedition conjures up the image of an early 2000s, manual transmission ATV. That’s because Polaris has mysteriously begun using this name in current marketing for their off road vehicle lineup once more.
Even though you can still find these old machines kicking around on various used ATV marketplaces, this time it seems Polaris has something bigger planned for this brand.
In a series of cryptic social media shares this past week and again today, Polaris teased a full-size UTV bedecked in camping enclosures, obscured by shadow and the cover of night.
The initial promotional message broadcast on April 19 stated “A new adventure lineup coming 5.16.2023.” with the XPEDITION the supposed star player of this sudden announcement.
Media surrounding XPEDITION, as the name suggests, implies backcountry riding, long-haul traveling, and an emphasis on camping.
Polaris has used such phrases to describe XPEDITION as “Boundless adventures. Distant exploration.” and “Something that’s never been done before.”
Just what that something is, is still uncertain. While the video teaser released today doesn’t clarify much more about this new offering from Polaris, speculation would suggest one of three possibilites:
- Polaris is unleashing a new, rugged off-road vehicle meant for adventure riding, with the comforts of camping at hand through built in and optional accessories to suit.
A recent filing with the US Patent and Trademark Office (serial #97451308) indicates the brand mark may be used in this manner as Polaris filed it under the category “Off-road sport and utility side-by-side recreational vehicles and structural parts therefor”. - Polaris is starting a new tourism extension akin to their Polaris Adventures endeavor, where you can rent a modified UTV for camping excursions, possibly as part of a coordinated tour.
- Polaris has a new line of lock & ride camping gear for your new and/or existing UTV.
While the prospect of option two and three pale in comparison to a new vehicle offering, the teaser images so far imply a slightly different vehicle composition than the all-purpose RANGER UTV or its current adventure ORV brand, GENERAL.
The silhouette of the vehicle in question does not quite resemble a current ORV offered by Polaris. While the big picture is not yet clear, Polaris may just surprise us with something unique on May 16.
Through investigating this teaser the letters “ADM” reoccurred frequently in addition to an implication of a model year 2024, which may shed some light on the vehicle classification and release schedule of this new vehicle.
Polaris revolutionized the off road vehicle category in 1996 when they unveiled the first consumer-grade UTV (previously reserved for military applications) to the public, and created the side by side category with the Polaris RANGER.
Perhaps Occam’s Razor is correct in this instance: that Polaris may just have one more trick up their sleeves and all signs point to a new class or entire category of off road vehicles coming soon from their factories.
In the meantime, Polaris has encouraged the use of hashtags #PolarisXPEDITION and #KeepChasingTheWild to follow the latest leaks and peeks.
Stay tuned to Village MotorSports as we continue to source the latest news on this fresh new product!