As we reach the midway point of 2019, recent movements in the industry indicate a trend with a number of manufacturers increasing their foothold in the UTV market. In the case of Textron Specialized Vehicles, the addition of the new Cushman Hauler 4X4 – Yamaha Golf Car revealed the all new UMAX Rally Light Utility Vehicle – American Landmaster recently released new model configurations with their UTV line-up and ICON Electric Vehicles announced earlier this year the launch of their new Utility Vehicle division.
Textron Specialized Vehicles Inc. recently announced the launch of its new Cushman Hauler 4×4. The Hauler 4×4 is available as a three-person vehicle, and the Hauler 4×4 Crew accommodates up to six people. Both models are available in either a whisper-quiet 50hp gas engine, or a robust 25hp diesel engine. “The new Cushman Hauler 4×4 offers our customers four-wheel-drive capability, with the cargo capacity and a feature set designed to get challenging tasks done and make the work shift more efficient,” said Mike Parkhurst, TSV Vice President, Golf & Turf North America. “It’s the latest expansion of our versatile Hauler line of utility vehicles, which provides a complete, robust line of gas, diesel and electric utility vehicles to tackle any job.” The Hauler 4×4 series vehicles can be equipped with a wide selection of options and accessories to exceed your job requirements, including a glass windshield, canopy, center seat console, under seat storage, a rear-view mirror and much more.
Yamaha Golf-Car Company released the UMAX Rally™, a Light Utility Vehicle with all the game-changing features of the UMAX One and UMAX Two, but now with additional clearance and Yamaha Genuine accessories for the most demanding of commercial job duties. After the well-received debut of the UMAX Light Utility Vehicle lineup in January 2018, Yamaha added another notch of rough and rugged under the UMAX belt. The UMAX Rally boasts a lifted suspension for a six-inch ground clearance, four-wheel brakes, 23” tires with 12” V-window wheels, and Yamaha Genuine front brush guard and fender flares making it ideal for horse farms, construction sites, warehouses, campuses, and much more. “The UMAX Rally takes our UMAX Light Utility Vehicle lineup to the next level,” says Tom McDonald, Yamaha Golf-Car Company President. “This vehicle is for the hobby farmer or park ranger that needs more ground clearance or the building maintenance staff who want comfort as well as ample cargo space to do work around campus. We really wanted to provide a solution that would give them exactly what they needed to get the job done.”
American LandMaster released their new steel flatbed UTV, the FTX series. The new FTX package is available standard on three of their models: 350DL FTX, 477 FTX, and the 550EPS FTX. An FTX model comes equipped with their new oversized steel flatbed made of thick, diamond-plated steel, a branded back plate, and pocket holes for sidewalls. The flatbed still provides the customer with full dump capability and can fit a full size pallet on-board. David Piercy, Marketing Director for American LandMaster, is anticipating this will be a big hit with the dealers and consumers. “We took the steel flatbed unit to a few shows in the fall of 2018 and the responses were incredible. People loved the look and feel of the diamond-plate steel and were even more impressed with the angle of the dump. It’s a great option for farmers, municipalities, or heavy-duty users. One of my favorite things about the flatbed is it doubles a portable workbench. Sometimes customers can be miles away from their barn or workshop and have to haul additional tools to build their own workbench in the field. Now they won’t have to.”
ICON EV recently announced the launch of a new division specializing in utility, maintenance, security, and shuttle vehicles. ICON Managing Partner Roy Williams made the announcement from ICON’s Tampa headquarters. “This is a segment we have been looking at for some time, and we feel the time is right to enter this market”, said Williams. Having sold multiple maintenance vehicles to several Florida universities, Williams is confident that sufficient demand exists to warrant the expansion. “For quite some time, we have gotten inquiry after inquiry about utility or maintenance vehicles, and typically we elect to pass.
We’ve done a few orders here and there for several State colleges, but we didn’t really seek out the utility business. However we have added sufficient staff and sufficient space over the past year, which allows us to move forward in that segment without it taking anything away from other market segments we are involved in.” ICON EV will be offering both lifted and non-lifted dump vehicles, flatbed vehicles, enclosed cargo vehicles, security vehicles, and shuttle buses ranging from 8 passengers up to 23 passengers.
