Minneapolis, MN (8/4/2008) - Polaris
Industries Inc. (NYSE:PII) today named Scott
W. Wine Chief Executive Officer, effective
September 1, 2008. Mr. Wine will succeed outgoing
CEO Thomas C. Tiller, who will continue to
serve as a member of the company's Board of
Directors.
Mr. Wine joins Polaris from UTC Fire and
Security, a unit of Hartford, CT, based United
Technologies Corporation (NYSE:UTX), 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.
Wine’s selection comes at the end of
an extensive and carefully conducted search
process. The Polaris Board of Directors, led
by Chairman Greg Palen, conducted a comprehensive
evaluation of all candidates and unanimously
believes that 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 benefitting 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. Tiller, 47, has been with
the company since July, 1998 and its CEO since
May, 1999. Tiller said his decision was for
personal reasons and that he will remain on
the Polaris Board of Directors.
“Tom and his team did an outstanding
job of leading Polaris for the past ten 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.
Mr. 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.
Mr. Wine will join the Board of Directors
of Polaris.
“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,” said
Wine. “Tom and the senior management
team have had such consistent success and
I look forward to building on that accomplishment.”
Wine, 41, is a 1989 graduate of the United
States Naval Academy and received a Masters
in Business Administration from the University
of Maryland. He will relocate shortly to Minnesota
with his wife and two children from his current
home in Connecticut.
About Polaris:
With annual 2007
sales of $1.8 billion, Polaris designs, engineers,
manufactures and markets all-terrain vehicles
(ATVs), including the Polaris RANGER(tm),
snowmobiles and Victory motorcycles for recreational
and utility use.
Polaris is a recognized
leader in the snowmobile industry, one of
the largest manufacturers of all terrain recreational,
utility and side-by-side vehicles (ATVs) in
the world, and rapidly making impressive in-roads
into the motorcycle cruiser and touring marketplace
under the Victory(r) brand. The Victory motorcycle
division was established in 1998 representing
the first all-new American-made motorcycle
from a major company in nearly 60 years. 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 Small-Cap 600 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.
