The Experiences Per Mile Outlook for Powersport Products

The one-year anniversary of the Experiences Per Mile Advisory Council is approaching, and to commemorate the milestone, HARMAN has published three new episodes of the Experiences Per Mile podcast featuring members of the Advisory Council where they discuss their company's contribution to enhancing the end-to-end consumer experience for mobility. This blog post summarizes episode 13 of the podcast featuring Patrick Weldon, Director of Advanced Technology at Polaris.

​The one-year anniversary of the Experiences Per Mile Advisory Council is approaching, and to commemorate the milestone, HARMAN has published three new episodes of the Experiences Per Mile​ podcast featuring members of the Advisory Council where they discuss their company's contribution to enhancing the end-to-end consumer experience for mobility. This blog post summarizes episode 13 of the podcast featuring Patrick Weldon, Director of Advanced Technology at Polaris, one of the founding companies of the EPM Advisory Council. Listen to the full episode here. 


The Experiences Per Mile podcast​ is an independent organization founded by HARMAN and SBD Automotive in October 2019. It is comprised of 33 executive members from 22 companies and was formed to evaluate the changing automotive value chains, inspire cross-industry collaboration, and fuel meaningful consumer innovation. EPM Advisory Council members are advocates for Experiences Per Mile and have recently released a report that predicts consumer experience trends over the next 10 years. Like the many companies that make up the Advisory Council, Polaris is a dedicated partner.

Patrick believes the value of the EPM Advisory Council​ ​Council comes from the strength of the partnerships formed by members, which aids in the strategic development of the next decade of digital transformation, of which, customer centricity is paramount.

Polaris is no stranger to putting the voice of the customer first. In 2009, the RZR ATV was launched. It was designed to have more than one person experience the off-road vehicle ride. Shortly thereafter, the same concept of togetherness crossed over to the motorcycle market, driving the evolution and launch of the Slingshot side-by-side on-road vehicle.

The demand for these types of experiences is growing more and more. According to Patrick, it’s not a big powertrain or big suspension at the base of this change—it’s the desire for humans to be with each other and share time with one another. The Polaris Ride Command platform enables this customer wish.

When Ride Command came to the market, the strategy developed by Polaris was to give riders the maps and information they needed for the trails they were about to explore. Since its release, it has evolved to connect riders in and outside of the vehicle. The platform now allows vehicle-to-vehicle communication, noise cancellation inside the cockpit​, and the ability for an individual rider to even talk to another, both in the vehicle and in a group ride.

One of the most interesting things that Patrick has noticed is that customers love to capture and record their rides. They take pictures and load them into what Polaris calls a digital scrapbook, so at the end of the day or later in colder months, they can replay it and remember those experiences with friends. To Patrick, this is something that you can't put a price tag on.

This year, Polaris has seen record sales. Changes in the mobility space as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic have driven new customers to the sport. With family travel plans being canceled, people are shifting away from more traditional vacations like trips to the amusement park or cruises and are turning to a new outdoor experience with powersport products.

When Patrick was asked to share what he thinks the future holds for the industry, he reiterated the desire for humans to be connected with each other. Adding different kinds of technologies to the community ride will allow the industry to continue to develop the community bond, no matter the type of vehicle.

More information about Powersport Products

Consumer Benefit: Enjoyment
The Enjoyment consumer benefit includes solutions that support any aspect of entertainment in the vehicle along and tools for discovery.
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Karen

​Karen Piurkowski

Senior Director, Global Content & Digital Marketing at HARMAN International​​​

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