Polaris to close manufacturing plant in Osceola, lay off 200 workers

Polaris will close a manufacturing plant in Osceola by the end of the year, leaving roughly 200 workers out of a job. 

The plant in Osceola builds engines and other components for several product lines, including Polaris snowmobiles and Indian Motorcycles. In October 2025, Polaris announced that Indian Motorcycle would become a standalone company and that it would sell its majority stake to Carolwood LP, a real estate and private equity company. 

In a statement, a Polaris spokesperson said the new standalone Indian Motorcycle company would move production of powertrains from the Polaris facility in Osceola to a plant in Iowa later this year.

“As a result of this volume moving, we will no longer have the Polaris engine production volume at Osceola needed to maintain operations there,” the statement read.

According to the Polaris spokesperson, workers at the plant were notified last week about the decision to close the plant and wind down operations over the next year. The company plans to shift the remaining powertrain and component production to other Polaris manufacturing plants in its network.

Polaris anticipates that operations will wind down operations in Osceola in phases and does not expect to see job losses until this summer. 

“We recognize the difficulty this change will mean in the lives of employees, and we are committed to supporting them through this transition,” the Polaris spokesperson said. “We will offer separation benefits and outplacement assistance to impacted employees, as well as support relocation opportunities.”

The company had not filed a layoff notice with the state Department of Workforce Development as of Tuesday afternoon. The statement did not specify how many people would be laid off, but the Minnesota Star Tribune reports 200 workers will be affected.

Wisconsin Democratic U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin condemned the decision to close the Osceola plant on social media.

“We have seen this story in Wisconsin too many times — a private equity firm buys a company, hollows it out, & fires its workers, all to pad their profits,” Baldwin wrote. “It’s simply wrong.”