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With the departure of Scott Wine from the powersports industry, the question coming into 2021 was who was going to lead Polaris Industries going forward.

We still don’t have a definitive answer on that, but we do know who will be leading the company’s house of brands as it looks for a permanent solution, as Michael Speetzen has been named the interim CEO for Polaris.

A news item that got lost in the shuffle, there is some pretty big news from Medina, Minnesota as Polaris CEO and Chairman Scott Wine has announced his departure from the American powersports company.

This is a shake-up for Polaris Industries, as Wine’s tenure at the American firm has been some of the company’s best, with sales more than tripling and Polaris joining the Fortune 500 listing during Wine’s time as CEO and Chairman.

Most notably, Wine oversaw the takeover of the Indian motorcycle brand, which continues to gain marketshare against Harley-Davidson, and he closed the struggling Victory motorcycle brand in the process.

Big moves continue at the Bar & Shield brand, as Jochen Zeitz has been named as the permanent replacement to Matt Levatich, dropping the “interim” part of his title as President and CEO of Harley-Davidson, effective immediately.

The move isn’t too much of a surprise for Harley-Davidson, as Zeitz was always a front-runner for the positions, after he took the temporary assignments over two months ago.

Coming closely after the news that Harley-Davidson would drop the “More Roads” business plan for a new corporate strategy, dubbed “The Rewire”, the American motorcycle maker is returning to a position that more closely follows where it was before Levatich took the helm.

Well before the firing of Harley-Davidson CEO Matt Levatich (and it was a firing, no matter how much the Bar & Shield brand touts its “mutual decision” narrative), there has been a wrestling of control over the future of the iconic American motorcycle brand.

Dwindling share prices on the New York Stock Exchange necessitated a change of regime at Harley-Davidson, as shareholders saw a continued loss on their investment with the Milwaukee firm; and thus, a loss of confidence in management’s ability to run the company.

Now with Matt Levatich out and Jochen Zeitz taking on the role of interim CEO and President of Harley-Davidson, a new battle is being fought – what is known in the investing world as a proxy fight.

In an attempt to bury the news in the Friday rush for the weekend, we now get a surprise announcement from Harley-Davidson saying that the Bar & Shield brand has parted ways with President and CEO Matt Levatich.

Harley-Davidson maintains that the move was “mutual” in its published statement about the news, but any broken hearted teenager can tell you that is never mutual, and in the business world this is especially the case when the news is dropped at the end of the weekly news cycle, and no permanent replacement is announced.

In an exclusive interview with Asphalt & Rubber, MV Agusta CEO Timur Sardarov has revealed that the Italian motorcycle marque will release a lineup of 350cc twin-cylinder motorcycles.

The bikes will continue MV Agusta’s position as a premium motorcycle brand, but offer more opportunities for riders, not only in the Western markets, but in countries where smaller displacement motorcycles prevail.

“MV Agusta is entering the biggest relevant market in the world, which is 350c to 500cc,” Timur Sardarov revealed to Asphalt & Rubber

There is new leadership at the venerable two-wheeled online retailer RevZilla, though you wouldn’t know it beyond the PR-friendly Technical.ly publication where the news was published yesterday – and not on the company’s own news site.

Announcing that Ken Murphy will take over as the head of both RevZilla and Cycle Gear (technically, Murphy will become the President and CEO of Comoto Holdings, which owns both RevZilla and Cycle Gear), the news means that RevZilla co-founder Matt Kull is stepping down from the role, which he has held in an official and in an interim capacity since Anthony Bucci’s resignation from the post in late 2016.

Murphy comes from outside of the motorcycle industry, but has retail experience, working in the mattress and shoe business.

MV Agusta has raised an additional €40 million in funding, the Italian firm reports, bringing its total in fundraising to €50 million over the last 12 months, as the company moves past its previous financial troubles.

With the capital increase comes a change in the leadership structure at MV Agusta, with Giovanni Castiglioni continuing as the company’s President, while investor Timur Sardarov takes on the role of the company’s new CEO and Chairman of the Board.

This arrangement should mean that Castiglioni will focus on the day-to-day business of MV Agusta and its product lineup, while  Sardarov will mind the company’s financial future and big-picture strategy, including the company’s new business plan.

The past year has been a tumultuous one for the Motorcycle Aftermarket Group (MAG). In November 2017, the conglomerate filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protections, as it restructured its debt from missteps during the economic recession.

That process concluded in April of this year, with the company’s creditors (Monomoy Capital Partners, BlueMountain Capital, and Contrarian Partners) taking control and ownership of MAG.

Now trying to move forward, MAG has announced that Mike Buettner will become the company’s interim CEO, while Bob Peiser will serve as chairman of MAG’s Board of Directors.

The news comes as the Sturgis motorcycle rally kicks off in South Dakota, where both Buettner and Peiser will be in attendance, in order to meet customers and dealers who were affected by MAG’s restructuring. The pair will also be at the AIMExpo and the Tucker Dealer show, later this year.

Zero Motorcycles has finally filled its vacant CEO position, announcing that Samuel Paschel will take over the reigns at the electric motorcycle company,  and replacing Richard Walker who left Zero in July 2016.

A newcomer to the motorcycle industry, Paschel has a product development focused resume, and most recently was the Chief Commercial Officer at Skullcandy. He has also held management and leadership positions at Burton Snowboards and Giro Sports Design.