The Future of Sales and the Powersports Industry: What the Evidence Says

This post first ran in January 2020 as a short note about a "revolution" in how vehicles are bought, and it promised to explain what dealers needed to know. It never did. This version keeps the question and answers it from evidence: annual reports, investor results and the documents manufacturers and dealer groups file about their own businesses.

It is written for dealer principals and general managers deciding where to put money and people over the next few years. Every number below comes from a source listed at the end. Where a company states an expectation about the future, it is labeled as that company's forecast, with the year.

The short answer

Powersports retail is not being replaced. It is being rearranged: more of the sale happens online, electric models sit on the floor in small numbers, AI assists staff, parts and service carry more of the profit, more stores belong to groups, and the ride, delivery and community stay in person.

What is the future of powersports dealership technology?

Dealership technology is moving toward one customer record that follows a shopper from the first online visit to service visits after delivery. Online research, trade-in and finance steps, AI that assists staff, and parts and service growth are the changes the filings support; the test ride and delivery stay in person. Polaris, Harley-Davidson and RideNow describe online selling as a channel beside the store, not a replacement, so the practical technology work is a clean customer record, fast lead response and current inventory data.

Six shifts, the evidence and what to do now

Online steps are now part of the sale

The 2020 post was right that buying habits were changing. What has happened since is less dramatic than "everything moves online". Manufacturers and the largest dealer group now describe online selling as one channel next to the store, not a replacement for it.

Polaris, in its 2025 annual report, says its products "are sold online and through dealers and distributors". In its risk factors it adds that if it cannot "compete in the digital marketplace", its ability to keep and attract customers could suffer. Harley-Davidson's results note that LiveWire unit sales "comprise both wholesale units to dealers and direct on-line sales to consumers". RideNow, a dealer group, says it uses its "proprietary RideNow Cash Offer tool to acquire vehicles directly from consumers".

For a single store, the lesson is narrower than the headlines: put the research steps online (the real unit, its price, a trade-in path, financing) and expect shoppers to still come in to ride and take delivery. Our guide to setting up digital retail at a powersports dealership covers which steps to put online first and how to hand the shopper to staff without making them repeat anything.

Electric models are on sale, in small numbers

Electric powersports is no longer a forecast. It is product on dealer floors. The question is volume.

Harley-Davidson's fourth-quarter 2025 results give the clearest public numbers:

• LiveWire shipped 653 electric motorcycles in 2025, up 7% from 612 in 2024.
• Its electric balance bike and electric bike units were 21,141, up 15% from 18,351.
• The LiveWire segment had an operating loss of $75.0 million in 2025.
• For comparison, Harley-Davidson reported global retail sales of 132,535 of its own motorcycles in 2025. That is a retail figure and LiveWire's is a unit-sales figure, so treat the comparison as a sense of scale only.

Harley-Davidson's own 2026 guidance, published in February 2026, expects the LiveWire segment to lose between $70 million and $80 million in 2026. That is the company's forecast, not ours. It suggests electric street motorcycles are still being built up rather than paying their way.

Polaris names "the digital and electrification markets" in its 2025 annual report as areas where it must keep developing products to stay competitive.

What this means for a dealer: electric units are a real but small part of the mix. The low-risk move is to get one technician trained and one salesperson fluent in charging, range and warranty questions, then let local demand set how many units you floor.

AI in the store should assist people

Most "future of the dealership" pieces either promise that AI will run the store or ignore it. Neither helps a GM decide what to do on Monday.

PSX Ascend's position is that AI is useful when it supports the sales team, not when it replaces them. AI voice agents that call customers are risky today, because they can hallucinate and create more problems than they solve. That is why ALMA, PSX's Automated Lead Management Assistant, does not use AI to call customers. Its job is to prompt direct live connections between the customer and a sales associate.

The useful AI work in a store today is the repetitive kind:

• Re-engaging shoppers who went quiet or chose not to buy, so a person can pick the conversation back up.
• Surfacing which customer to call next and what they were looking at.
• Keeping notes, dispositions and records complete, because AI on a broken process only speeds up the broken process.

Our article on the honest benefits of AI for dealerships goes department by department, with where a human check is needed.

Service and parts are the profit anchor

When vehicle sales slow, the filings show parts and service holding up better.

Polaris, 2025 annual report. Revenue from parts, garments and accessories (PG&A) was $1,871.6 million of $7,152.0 million total in 2025, about 26%, up from $1,706.4 million (about 24%) in 2024. Vehicle (wholegood) revenue fell from $5,469.0 million to $5,280.4 million over the same period. Polaris says Off Road sales were "approximately flat" in 2025, as "increased PG&A sales" offset lower shipments of recreational vehicles and snowmobiles.

RideNow, FY2025 results. Parts, service and accessories brought in $197.8 million of the group's $1,082.5 million total revenue, about 18%. After cost of revenue ($105.5 million), that line produced about $92.3 million of gross profit, roughly 31% of the group's $298.0 million total gross profit. Those percentages are our calculation from the company's income statement.

Read together: a dealership's parts counter and service bay earn a share of gross profit far larger than their share of revenue. They also keep the customer coming back between purchases, which is when the next sale is set up.

What to do now:

• Track how many of last year's buyers came back for service.
• Offer the first service appointment at delivery.
• Make service booking available online and send reminders on time.

Our growth guide, how to grow a powersports dealership, has a fuller plan for fixed operations.

Consolidation into dealer groups

More stores are owned by groups, and manufacturer networks are a little smaller than they were.

• RideNow Group describes itself as "a powersports dealership group that partners with virtually every major powersports brand in the world", and says it believes its powersports business "is the largest powersports retail group in the United States" (FY2025 results, March 2026).
• Polaris reported "approximately 2,500 independent dealers in North America" in its 2023 annual report and "approximately 2,400" in its 2025 report. It also says "a majority of our dealers and distributors are multi-line and also carry competitor products".
• Harley-Davidson's forward-looking statements list the need to "implement changes relating to its dealers and distribution methods, including the Company's dealer footprint".

None of these documents gives a total count of US powersports dealerships or a share owned by groups, so we do not state one. The direction is clear enough: fewer points, more multi-line stores, and groups with the systems to measure every store the same way.

That matters to an independent owner either way. A buyer will value a store with clean customer data, a documented sales process and steady service revenue. A store that plans to stay independent needs the same things to compete with a group's reporting.

For the market backdrop since the pandemic boom, including dealer inventory and promotions, see what happened to powersports after the gold rush.

What stays human: the ride, the delivery and the community

The filings describe online steps, electric models and dealer groups. None of them describes moving the test ride, the pre-delivery inspection, the delivery walk-around or the rider community online. That is our reading, not a quote, but it matches how the products are used: a rider wants to feel the machine, learn the controls from a person and ride with other people who own the same thing.

That is where a store still beats a website:

• The test ride. Make it easy to book online and easy to do on site.
• Delivery. A planned walk-around, safety briefing and first-service booking.
• Community. Group rides, clinics, open houses and owner events give buyers a reason to come back to your store rather than any store.

What most "future of" articles get wrong

The common story is replacement: online selling replaces the showroom, electric replaces gas, AI replaces the salesperson. The companies that actually make and sell the vehicles describe something else.

• Dealers are still the channel. Harley-Davidson says it "depends on the capability and financial capacity of its dealers" to sell its motorcycles. Polaris still sells through about 2,400 North American dealers.
• Electric is growing from a small base. 653 LiveWire motorcycles in a year is a real business, but not yet a mass one, and the company forecasts further losses for 2026.
• The profit shifts inside the store. Parts, service and F&I carry the gross profit when vehicle margins are under pressure.

So the future store looks like today's, with more research and paperwork online, more profit from the service bay, and people's time spent on rides, deliveries and conversations.

A 12-month plan for a single store

1. Audit your online steps. Can a shopper see the real unit, its price, a trade-in path, a credit application and a booking link on a phone?
2. Fix inventory data. Real photos, correct prices and sold units removed the same day. Our guide to online inventory listing standards has a checklist.
3. Set a response rule. Every lead gets a person within minutes in business hours, with notes and a disposition.
4. Measure service retention for last year's buyers and book first service at delivery.
5. Decide on electric with one trained tech, one fluent salesperson and a demo unit before more stock.
6. Add one community event per quarter and capture who came.
7. Review the year against units, gross profit by department and service retention.

Where PSX Ascend fits

PSX Ascend builds tools for this kind of store. Powersports dealer websites connect with inventory tools so current vehicle details, pricing and photos support the digital showroom. The AI-powered powersports CRM keeps customer context and next actions in one place for the sales team. AI inventory management helps the team publish stronger photos, descriptions and vehicle details. ALMA handles the repetitive work of re-engaging stalled shoppers and brings them back to a live conversation with a person. The principle is to close deals, not chase them.

You can also see the same certified dealership websites on our sister site, PSXDigital's certified dealership websites page.

Sources

• Polaris Inc., 2025 Annual Report and Form 10-K (dealer network, online sales, PG&A and wholegood revenue for 2024 and 2025, digital and electrification risk factor)
• Polaris Inc., 2023 Annual Report and Form 10-K (North American dealer network in 2023)
• Harley-Davidson, Inc., Q4 and Full Year 2025 results presentation (February 10, 2026: LiveWire units and operating loss, global retail sales, dealer inventory, 2026 guidance, dealer dependence)
• RideNow Group, Inc., Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2025 Financial Results (March 9, 2026: revenue and cost by line, company description, Cash Offer tool)