Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/410969
www.PowersportsBusiness.com NEWS Powersports Business • November 3, 2014 • 3 HOTNEWS CONTINUED FROM COVER JEFF DERGE HAS BEEN PROMOTED TO VICE PRESIDENT OF SALES AT LEMANS CORP. LeMans Corp. announced the promotion of Jeff Derge to vice president of sales. Derge, formerly national accounts manager for Parts Unlimited, brings 26 years of industry experience to the position, including 16 years of retail in both the metric and V-twin mar- kets. Derge also has four years of man- ufacturing experience. "Jeff has served in several important sales-related areas at LeMans and has substantially contributed to the continued growth and success of Parts Unlimited and Drag Special- ties," said Fred Fox, chairman of LeMans Corp. "We look forward to continued sales increases in 2015 under Jeff's leadership." LeMans is the parent com- pany of Parts Unlimited, Drag Specialties, Moose, Icon, Thor, Arctiva, Z1R and Slippery and offers worldwide service to dealers through its six U.S. ware- houses, two in Canada and one in Germany. YAMAHA MOTOR CANADA NAMES NEW DISTRICT SALES MGR. Yamaha Motor Canada announced that Ken Van Noort has been named district sales manager, Marine, for the Cen- tral Ontario region in the Sales Department. In addition to his existing duties with Yamaha's sportboat and WaveRunner lines, Van Noort will be respon- sible for Outboard and package growth in Ontario. He has more than 15 years marine experience. CONSUMER RESEARCH SOLUTIONS CELEBRATES 10TH ANNIVERSARY Worcester, Mass.-based Con- sumer Research Solutions, Inc. (CRS) is celebrating its 10th year as an industry-leading research company that specializes in objective, third-party data col- lection and Internet software for the powersports, RV, marine and tractor industries. Ten years ago, the partners of Consumer Research Solutions set out to research and standard- ize a database of powersports fea- tures and specifications to help companies that need ongoing manufacturer model data to sup- port their products and services. "There was a need for com- panies to outsource their data collection," said CRS presi- dent Steve Caisse. "In many instances, companies had to collect model data in order to build their online presence or to support their internal inventory systems, and this was a huge hurdle for operating in or enter- ing the powersports market." Today, CRS also serves the RV and marine markets with a full data set for each model, including more than 200 features, specifi- cations, photos, color swatches, accessory lists, VIN decoding and customized solutions. "We have been very fortu- nate that many companies have chosen to work with CRS over the years to outsource their data needs," said vice president of sales Andrea Desilets. CYCLETRADER.COM ENHANCES DEALERS' CUSTOMER DATABASE CycleTrader.com has announced the addition of five lead management email options for dealers' TraderOnline accounts. Dealers can now send leads in specific formats to five separate email accounts, helping them more easily manage those leads and maintain their cus- tomer database. Prior to the recent update, dealers could only obtain leads in an XML or text format, limiting the information they received. The choice was to either get lead information in an easily legible format or have their lead man- agement systems gather all of the information. With the recent TraderOnline update, dealers no longer have that limitation. By adding five more email addresses to their TraderOnline accounts, dealers can now have their leads emailed in multiple ways. They can choose to have both the XML format and text versions sent to those additional email accounts. This allows the lead management systems to still acquire the coded lead for their records, while dealers directly receive leads they can immediately act upon without compromising their lead management systems. In addition to helping dealers manage their leads, this update allows them to more accurately track lead numbers. Get Best Price and Request Price leads were not previously recorded by dealers' lead management systems, but instead had to be manually added to the dealers' records. Now this process is automatic, saving dealers time Polaris Industries has hired Kenneth J. (Ken) Pucel to fill its newly formed executive vice president of Operations, Engineering, and Lean position. Pucel most recently was EVP of Global Operations, Quality, and Technology for Boston Scientific Corporation ("BSC") and is expected to start with Polaris in late November. "During a stellar 25 year career with BSC, Ken established a track record of consistently delivering significant results in a complex global business," said Scott Wine, Polaris chairman and CEO. "He is known for his deci- sive leadership and team-first attitude and has repeatedly displayed those traits while driving innovation and improvement in products and processes. Ken has a wealth of practical experience in design- ing and implementing lean operations that produce meaningful, lasting results in safety, quality, delivery and cost reduction, which will be invaluable as he spearheads our charge toward becoming a customer-centric lean enterprise." Pucel will be responsible for all aspects of Polaris manufacturing operations, including production, quality, supply chain, logistics and inventory for Polaris' 12 global factories. The role also oversees Polaris engineering, R&D and lean enterprise functions. He will report directly to Wine. "Polaris has become exponentially more complex in recent years, and as we progress toward our $8 billion sales goal, this complexity escalation is only going to accelerate," said Bennett Morgan, Polaris president and chief operating officer. "With his extensive experience and broad skill set, Ken will be a powerful force supporting both our continued growth and our progress toward becoming great at operations and lean." Pucel managed BSC's 16 global manufacturing facilities and numerous distribution centers, leading over 12,000 employees in more than 40 countries, while also owning the R&D and Quality functions. Ken, his wife Amy and their three children live in Minnesota. He is a knowledgeable and passionate consumer of Polaris prod- ucts, who currently owns eight Polaris vehicles, including a vintage Sno-Traveler. NEW POLARIS EVP OWNS EIGHT POLARIS VEHICLES NEWS 4 ... EICMA prepares for 100th edition 4 ... Lonski adds to team FINANCIAL NEWS 12 ... Steve Dodds 12 ... Same Store Sales 12 ... Stock Market Watch 14 ... ARI acquires tech company OPINION 16 ... From the Editor 16 ... Online at PowersportsBusiness.com PSB: FOCUS Helmet & Apparel 18 ... Scorpion focuses on safety first 19 ... SpeedMob unveils '15 Airoh line 22 ... CDK Global helmet data 23 ... SKULLY breaks Indiegogo record MOTORCYCLE 28 ... KBB.com January-July web hits PWC 32 ... Sea-Doo sees World Finals success SOLUTIONS 34 ... Steve Jones 35 ... Hal Ethington SNOWMOBILE 36 ... Hibbert re-signs with FLY 36 ... Ski-Doo partners with Burton AFTERMARKET 38 ... Hot Products INSIDE Rockford Fosgate parent company promotes from within High-performance audio systems maker Rock- ford Corp., has promoted Theresa Anthony to V.P of Sales & Marketing, and Jake Braaten to V.P. of Product Development & Engineering. "We're setting our company up for growth," said Bill Jackson, Rockford Corp. president and CEO. "These organizational changes will allow us to continue to focus on our core 12 Volt lines, while we expand into the marine, motorcycle, ATV and RV space. Jake and The- resa have a record of success both at Rockford as well as in the CE industry, so we are proud to have them in their new roles as we lead Rock- ford into the future." Braaten, most recently senior director of product development, has been with the corpo- ration since 2001. In his new position, Braaten will unite the design, engineering and validation groups to deliver an expansive list of new auto- motive, motorsports, marine and recreational vehicle products for Rockford Corporation. Since joining Rockford in 2002, Anthony, most recently VP of marketing and prod- uct development, has held positions in key accounts management, business development and marine and recreational OEM sales. In her new role, Anthony will continue to oversee marketing for all of Rockford's brands and will lead the aftermarket sales teams for the domes- tic and international markets. Hibbert turns to Arcticwear for 2014-15 season Team Arctic's Tucker Hibbert will launch into the 2014-15 Sno- cross racing season wearing Arcticwear Gear from Arctic Cat. It's the same winning combination that helped launch Hibbert's record- setting career more than 15 years ago. "It just feels right coming home to Arcticwear," Hibbert said. "Arcticwear is part of the family of Arctic Cat products and people that have been so important throughout my career. It's a brand full of passion that's dedicated to performance. I'm very proud to be back in Arcticwear and have it as the official gear of my team." Hibbert is an eight-time X Games gold medalist and has 95 Pro class victories — the most in snocross history. He helped design and develop the Arcticwear jacket and pants that he will wear on track this season. His design influence will further translate to a signature sportswear line for Arcticwear bearing his name and iconic No. 68 in the near future. "The Hibbert name is synonymous with inventive ideas and per- formance," said Tracy Crocker, vice president-general manager of Arctic Cat Parts, Garments and Accessories. "Tucker demands the highest performance from himself and from his equipment, whether it's shock calibration on his snowmobile suspension or the zipper quality on a jacket. That's the edge he brings to the racetrack and to the Arcticwear gear that he relies upon." Tucker Hibbert helped design the Arcticwear Gear that he will wear for the 2014-15 Snowcross season. KENNETH J. PUCEL JEFF DERGE See Hot News, Page 4