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.
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.
Coming off the third-straight record year for Polaris, CEO Scott Wine has just gotten a resounding vote of confidence from the company’s Board of Directors, and has been elected to Chairman of the Board at Polaris Industries. Wine replaces former-Chairman Greg Palen, who had served in the position of chairman for 11 of his 20 years on Polaris’ Board of Directors.
“I would like to congratulate Scott on his election to serve in the additional capacity of Chairman of the Board,” said Palen. “Under his leadership, Polaris has delivered consistent and profitable growth while successfully executing the company’s ambitious strategy, generating record results and shareholder returns.”
Dal Smilie is certainly not smiling this week. The Former American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) Chairman was sentenced yesterday for embezzling $100,000 in fraudulent travel reimbursement claims to the not-for-profit organization. Smilie received a sentence of eight months in prison, and two years probation after pleading guilty for his misappropriation of organization founds over the course of years, ending in 2007. He was also ordered to pay a $1,000 fine and court costs.