Arctic Cat cutting ATV production

One of the main arguments used by proponents of unchecked off-road vehicle use is that more people are riding off-road, and that there is a huge amount of demand for places to ride.  However, interesting news is coming out of Wall Street this week, in the form of weaker-than-expected sales of off-road vehicles by Arctic Cat.  From a Reuter's news report:

The reduced forecast reflects an industry-wide decline in sales of all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) -- those designed for off-road travel by a single rider. The company will cut ATV production by about 10 percent during the current quarter. It also plans a new $10 million stock buyback. 

While there a variety of factors that lead to a decrease in production, a 10 percent cut in production is a huge cut. Perhaps this will be a trend of things to come for the off-road vehicle industry as gas prices soar and agencies better enforce the protection of our public lands.