Aug. 11, 2008 – Hot News
Polaris Names New CEO
Polaris Industries Inc. announced that Scott Wine will be the company’s new Chief Executive Officer effective September 1, 2008. Wine will succeed outgoing CEO Tom Tiller, who will continue to serve as a member of the company’s Board of Directors.
Wine joins Polaris from UTC Fire and Security, a unit of Hartford, Conn., based United Technologies Corp., where he served as president, Fire Safety Americas. He also held senior leadership positions at Danaher Corp., Honeywell International and served as an officer in the United States Navy.
“I’m extremely excited to be joining such a great management team and a company with such amazing products and a strong and innovation-focused culture,” Wine said. “Tom Tiller and the senior management team have had such consistent success and I look forward to building on that accomplishment.”
Wine’s selection comes after an extensive search process. Polaris’ Board of Directors, led by Chairman Greg Palen, conducted a comprehensive evaluation of all candidates and unanimously believes Wine is the ideal candidate to lead Polaris in the future.
“As a proven leader with considerable experience across a variety of industries and three outstanding international companies, Scott has an impressive track record of producing outstanding results,” Palen said. “We’re confident that Scott, together with our strong management team, will continue Polaris’ remarkable history of innovation, leadership and results benefiting all of our stakeholders.”
Polaris announced in January that Tiller expected to step down from his CEO position by the end of 2008, when his current employment contract expires.
“Tom and his management team did an outstanding job of leading Polaris for the past 10 years and we feel very fortunate to be able to continue that success by adding Scott’s experience and skills to that team,” Palen said.
Wine will be only the third Polaris CEO in the past 27 years and will work with a senior management team that includes Chairman Palen and President and COO Bennett Morgan to execute on the 10-year vision to become a much bigger and more profitable global company. Wine will also join Polaris’ Board of Directors.
Triumph Sets New Sales Record
Triumph Motorcycles set a new U.S. single-month sales record in June. The company sold 1,536 units in the United States, which is 91 more units than the previous record, according to a Triumph press release.
The company reported June sales were a 17 percent increase over the same month last year.
The company says that all of the new Street Triple bikes have been a large reason for the increase in sales as well as the mid-year release of the Speed Triple. Also deserving recognition are the Bonneville T100 and Thruxton.
“Consumer interest in Triumph’s products has never been stronger,” Jim Callahan, marketing manager of Triumph Motorcycles (America) Ltd., said in the release. “With the announcement of the Triumph Thunderbird and several new model updates at the recent Global Dealer Conference, we anticipate that this growth trend will continue, as the new model range will generate additional traffic throughout our entire dealership network.”
Bell Names New Sales Director
Bell Powersports has hired industry veteran Randy George as director of sales. He will manage Bell’s sales force, who sell both the Bell helmet line and the Easton EXP handlebar line.
George comes to Bell from Fox Racing where he’s worked since 2003, most recently as the national sales manager of the motocross division.
“We couldn’t be more happy to have Randy on board,” said Tom Larter, Bell’s vice president of powersports. “He has the leadership skills, experience and the passion to help take Bell to the next level.”
George is equally excited about his move to Bell.
“When I saw what these guys were doing in Santa Cruz with R&D and testing, I was completely blown away,” said George. “High-end helmets like the Star and Moto-8 are truly world-class, and all the way down the line Bell has incredible things going on. I’m very excited to be on board.”
George replaces Phil Ammendolia who left to pursue his own business interests.
“We owe a great deal of thanks to Phil Ammendolia,” Larter added. “We were struggling on the sales side when he came on board five years ago and he has been a key figure in Bell’s renaissance. We wish him all the best in the future.”
Longtime Thor Motocross Official to Retire
One of the original founders of Thor Motocross, Bob Maynard is retiring after 28 years of employment with the company to pursue other interests, stated a company press release.
“It’s been an exciting 28 years, including 15 years as CEO of Thor,” Maynard said. “During that time, I’ve seen the brand become well known worldwide and accepted as the riders’ favorite in many foreign countries as well as in the United States.”
Maynard’s hard work and success for Thor hasn’t gone unnoticed, says Fred Fox, CEO of LeMans Corp.
“Bob has been the passionate leader of Thor’s successful growth for many years,” he said in the release. “We appreciate Bob’s many years of dedicated service and all of his efforts to make the Thor brand recognized as the leader in motocross gear. We wish him well in the future.” psb
