Are you thinking what I’m thinking, Victory?

By now you know that Polaris, the father of Victory Motorcycles, has purchased Indian Motocycles, currently made in North Carolina.

You may know that Polaris is bringing Indian to Iowa where it will be manufactured and assembled along with Victory models.

What you may not know is that, like a famous genetically engineered lab mouse, Polaris plans on taking over the motorcycling world, at least 60 percent of  it, and perhaps the entire small-vehicle, effiencient fuel market.

According to information released by Polaris to its stockholders following the Indian purchase, company officials see the Indian marque as bringing die hard loyal cruiser riders into the Victory fold to add to their hard-care crusier/performance riders.

"We are excited to be part of the revitalization of a quintessentially American brand," said Scott Wine, CEO of Polaris Industries Inc. "Indian built America's first motorcycle. With our technology and vision, we are confident we will deliver the classic Indian motorcycle, enhanced by the quality and performance for which Polaris and Victory are known."

According to information presented, Indian represents 38 percent of the motorcycle market that are die-hard, brand-loyal riders. Victory currently represents the 21 percent of riders who are interested in performance, the information states.

The other 40 percent is comprised of show-offs (14 percent), weekend riders (11 percent) and daily riders (15 percent).

"Polaris is the most logical owner of Indian Motorcycle. Indian's heritage brand will allow Polaris to aggressively compete across an expanded spectrum of the motorcycle market," said Stephen Julius, chairman of Indian.

But Polaris also purchased a Chrysler-owned electric car manufacturer with plans to put the vehicles into the company's mix, as well.

According to Polaris, it purchased Global Electric Motorcars LLC (GEM), a wholly owned Fargo, N.D. based subsidiary of Chrysler Group LLC and manufacturer of premium electric-powered vehicles. A "recognized leader within the low-speed vehicle market," the brand had approximately $30 million in sales during the 2010 calendar year.

"GEM provides Polaris with an established position in the low-emission small vehicle market and supports Polaris' strategy of penetrating on-road market segments poised for growth," said Wine. "We are excited about the outlook for growth within this market space, and are looking forward to developing even stronger growth prospects for the GEM business."

Add that to Indian, and Polaris appears to be slicing out a big part of the future pie for fuel-efficient vehicles.

"Our vision is to accelerate profitable sales growth for GEM, by combining Polaris' strength in new product innovation with the most-recognized brand in the low speed vehicle market space," said Mike Jonikas, vice president of the On-Road Vehicle Division. "These new product efforts for GEM will be supported by an expanded distribution presence within select domestic and international markets."