Minneapolis, MN (2/6/2012)
-Polaris Industries Inc. (NYSE: PII)
today
announced the hiring of Steve Eastman, former
president of Target.com, to
lead its Parts, Garments, and Accessories (PG&A)
business. This
appointment allows Scott Swenson, who previously
ran both PG&A and the
Company's Small Vehicles business, to focus
his attention on establishing a
strong Polaris presence in the $4 billion small
electric vehicle market.
After a record year in 2011, Polaris expects
these businesses to strongly
contribute to its future success.
"Our Small Vehicles and Parts, Garments
and Accessories businesses are
vital to the company's success and we are
committed to pursuing growth in
these markets," said Scott Wine, Polaris
CEO. "In order to achieve these
aggressive goals, we need talented leaders
dedicated to each business.
Hiring Steve to lead PG&A, thereby allowing
Scott to devote his efforts to
Small Vehicles, puts two strong executives
in position to drive outstanding
results."
Polaris anticipates rapid growth in its PG&A
business during 2012. Eastman
will lead this work as vice president of Parts,
Garments and Accessories.
Eastman is an innovative leader with more
than 30 years of business
experience. In his most recent position, as
president of Target.com, he
was responsible for growing and managing a
$1.3 billion business and
leading a team of more than 1,000 global employees.
While at Target, he
managed strategy development and execution,
merchandising, operations,
distribution channel management, marketing,
and e-commerce, experience that
will be directly relevant to his new position
with Polaris.
Scott Swenson was promoted to vice president
of Small Vehicles in 2011,
while retaining his existing role as vice
president of Parts, Garments &
Accessories. Eastman's hiring transitions
Swenson out of PG&A, allowing
him to focus on building the Small Vehicles
business, a critical component
of Polaris' long-term strategy. Swenson began
his Polaris career as
Assistant Treasurer in 1998 and his leadership
has been instrumental in the
success of the Company's snowmobile and PG&A
businesses. He will continue
to lead Polaris' retail financial services
group.
About Polaris
Polaris is a recognized leader in the powersports
industry with annual 2011 sales of $2.7 billion.
Polaris designs, engineers, manufactures and
markets innovative, high quality off-road
vehicles (ORVs), including all-terrain vehicles
(ATVs) and the Polaris RANGER(r) side-by-side
vehicles, snowmobiles, motorcycles and on-road
electric/hybrid powered vehicles. Polaris
is among the global sales leaders for both
snowmobiles and off-road vehicles and has
established a presence in the heavyweight
cruiser and touring motorcycle market with
the Victory and Indian motorcycle brands.
Additionally, Polaris continues to invest
in the global on-road small electric/hybrid
vehicle industry with Global Electric Motorcars
(GEM) and Goupil Industrie SA, and internally
developed vehicles. Polaris 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 Mid-Cap 400 stock
price index.
Information about the
complete line of Polaris products, apparel
and vehicles accessories are available from
authorized Polaris dealers or anytime at www.polarisindustries.com.
