Minneapolis, MN (8/20/2011) -
Polaris Industries Inc. (NYSE: PII) today
announced several organizational changes designed
to align its leadership team with the company's
long term strategic objectives. Polaris' growth
outlook is exceptionally strong, supported
by the recent success and strategic expansion
of its product offerings and global footprint.
These moves will enhance opportunities for
continued domestic and international growth,
and are effective immediately.
"The transition strengthens the company
as we continue to explore business
opportunities around the globe, and puts our
leaders in positions to
further grow and develop to meet these challenges,"
said Scott Wine,
Polaris CEO. "We are incredibly fortunate
to have such a talented team of
people at Polaris. Our deep reservoir of strong
leaders allows us to make
changes from a position of strength, which
will maximize both the potential
of the company and our executive leaders."
Creating a laser focus on international markets
is a primary objective of
these changes. In the newly created role of
VP - EMEA, Matt Homan will
lead the company's Europe, Middle East and
Africa (EMEA) business,
concentrating on the development of both organic
and inorganic growth
opportunities in the region. Homan began his
Polaris career in 2002 as ATV
marketing manager, and for the past several
years he served as VP and
General Manager Off-Road Vehicle business,
driving that unit's tremendous
growth.
Also focusing on international growth in
a revised and strategically
critical role, Mike Dougherty will oversee
business in all countries
outside the EMEA region, with particular focus
on Brazil, India, and China,
as VP - Asia Pacific and Latin America. Dougherty
has already made
significant contributions to Polaris' international
expansion and this role
is designed to allow him to accelerate growth
in these important regions.
Since joining the company in 1998 as international
sales manager, Dougherty
has held several internationally-focused positions,
including his most
recent as VP - Global New Market Development.
Dougherty also ran the ATV
business during his Polaris tenure.
Paramount to Polaris' success is the commitment
to continually develop
innovative products and Dave Longren's leadership
as VP and CTO of
Engineering exemplifies this commitment. Longren
will now lead the entire
Off-Road Vehicle business as VP - ORV and
ORV Engineering. He will
continue to oversee the Bobcat adjacency as
well as Polaris' growing
Defense effort. Longren's broad experience
and leadership has been
critical to the various roles he's held during
his Polaris career, and will
be a tremendous asset to his stewardship of
the entire Off-Road Vehicle
business. In addition to Longren's strong
record of success at Polaris, he
also excelled in general management roles
with his previous employers.
Scott Swenson becomes VP - Small Vehicle
business and Parts, Garments &
Accessories (PG&A), including the recent
GEM acquisition. The Small
Vehicle business represents a critical component
of Polaris' long term
strategy, centered upon growing through non-powersports
adjacencies.
Swenson began his Polaris career as Assistant
Treasurer in 1998 and over
the last five years has been instrumental
in revitalizing the snowmobile
business. Swenson also played an integral
role in the expansion of the
company's PG&A business, which will remain
under his leadership. In
addition to Small Vehicles and PG&A, Swenson
will play an active leadership
role in commercializing related Powertrain
technologies from Polaris'
Swissauto business. He will continue to lead
Polaris' retail financial
services group.
Mike Jonikas becomes VP of the Snowmobile
business and Sales & Corporate
Marketing. Jonikas began his Polaris career
in 2000 as Director of ATV
Marketing & Product Management, and over
the past six years played a key
role in the company's transformation to a
retail business model via the
successful MVP program. In his new capacity,
Jonikas will accelerate the
positive growth trend exhibited by the company's
legacy Snowmobile
business, while continuing to lead development
of a new organic business
adjacency initiative.
Steve Menneto, who rose from District Sales
Manager to General Manager of
Victory Motorcycles between 1997 and 2009,
has been promoted to VP -
Motorcycles and will continue to oversee both
Victory and the recently
acquired Indian motorcycle business, reporting
directly to Bennett Morgan,
President and COO. Menneto's strong sales
background, significant
contributions to Victory's growth, and industry
experience make him the
ideal person to drive Polaris' expanded, two-brand
motorcycle business.
Steve Kemp, with his extensive engineering
background, has been promoted to
CTO of Engineering, with oversight of all
product lines excluding Off-Road
Vehicles. He has served as one of Polaris'
Directors of Engineering since
2009 and had 26 years of product development
experience prior to joining
Polaris. Kemp has been a key contributor to
the teams that, during the
previous two years, have repeatedly launched
innovative products while
simultaneously driving record quality and
process improvements. He will
bring that strong engineering background and
history of success to this new
role, working closely with Dave Longren and
the Off-Road Vehicles technical
team, while reporting directly to Bennett
Morgan. Steve Cohoon, Director
of ATV Engineering, is being promoted to General
Manager, Powertrain and
Senior Director, Snow Engineering. Cohoon
will succeed Allan Hurd in the
Powertrain role, as Hurd has declared his
intent to retire. Polaris will
benefit from having the skills and deep experience
of both Cohoon and Hurd,
who will work together closely during this
gradual transition.
Polaris continues to outperform in a challenging
market environment and
these leadership moves are specifically designed
to maintain, or even
accelerate that trend.
About Polaris
With annual 2010 sales of $1.991 billion,
Polaris designs, engineers, manufactures and
markets off-road vehicles (ORVs), including
all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) and the Polaris
RANGER® Side X Side vehicles, snowmobiles
and Victory motorcycles for recreational and
utility use and has recently introduced a
new on-road electric powered neighborhood
vehicle.
Polaris is a recognized
leader in the snowmobile industry; and one
of the largest manufacturers of ORVs in the
world. Victory motorcycles, established in
1998 and representing the first all-new American-made
motorcycle from a major company in nearly
60 years, are making in-roads into the cruiser
and touring motorcycle marketplace. Polaris
also enhances the riding experience with a
complete line of Pure Polaris apparel, accessories
and parts, available at Polaris dealerships.
Polaris Industries Inc.
trades on the New York Stock Exchange under
the symbol “PII”, and the Company
is included in the S&P MidCap 400 stock
price index. Information about the complete
line of Polaris products, apparel and vehicle
accessories are available from authorized
Polaris dealers or anytime from the Polaris
homepage at www.polarisindustries.com.