Mine shipped yesterday. didn’t look at number though

Have not noticed many or maybe any permits numbers mentioned based on date ordered but mine for an Oct 31 order date is 46,392.  

On the tooling and gearing part - it really does seem this has become almost dead, you do not see this much anymore, at least I do not, people in the garages working on cars, sleds, bikes, lawn mowers, etc....be it kids or dad in his 30's & 40's these days. As a new younger person with limited resources, this is how so many in the past could afford to sled, and was also part of the fun of owning a sled, working with friends on them, etc....., and this is also when things were more reasonable from a cost of living standpoint. Just another thing that I think deters people from the sport and powersports in general.   "Sledding ain't dead" - but it sure has and will continue to change, like so much else in life, it will never be the same as it once was, but you can still make the best of it and have a ton of fun if you have the desire & resources. Even the OFSC has curbed their stance or initiatives on getting new riders, they tried and as many has said, it did not add to the permit buyers - they need to determine year to year what is needed to support the current system based on the pieces and set the price accordingly based off of that. 

The manu's make what sells. They have all made entry level units that sit in boxes.   Hell, a 120 cc sled is $6k. A 200cc is $8k. Doo has been marketing 600cc EFI sleds for several years around the $11-12k mark and you often see them as left overs for less.   So what would this "Spark" sled be? and cost?   The used market is full of 5 year old high tech 800+cc sleds around the $10k mark. It doesn't inspire the youth to buy in. The youth are not motor heads. They've grown up on video games and instant access to anything on the internet.   If I wasn't so deeply entrenched in sledding, I'd be buying a SXS for offroad thrills myself. It offers more bang for the buck.   I expect Cat to bring a turbo 4-stroke to the market as soon as they can manage. That's why they have gone the EPS route. They will likely have to massage the Catalyst chassis to fit the block as well.   Even with the negativity, I don't think sledding will "die". It will continue to shrink, it will evolve and change with the times.    

Ski Doo already has that, a huge lineup of entry level 600EFI 2 strokes, very reasonably priced and well equipped.       People just over look them as they want all the bells and whistles