Leading off-road vehicle manufacturer, Polaris Industries, has announced a major organizational restructure to lead its rapidly growing Australian and New Zealand business into the future.

During January to October 2014, Polaris has grown sales by a staggering 34.1 percent in Australia and 35.5 percent in New Zealand versus the same period in 2013. This result has seen Polaris take a clear lead as the number one off-road vehicle brand in Australia, and grow its share of the New Zealand market by 2.5 percentage points to 15 percent. Driving this growth has been the constant innovation of Polaris, not least of which its range of 15 models with Roll Over Protection Structures (ROPS).

The success and growth of Polaris in Australia and New Zealand has mirrored global trends with the US brand growing its market capitalization to $10.5 billion and increasing its share price by 940 percent over the past five years.

As part of this re-structure and to drive even further growth over coming years, Polaris has changed its senior management team in Australia and will also establish a stand-alone subsidiary in New Zealand after almost two decades of managing its New Zealand business remotely from its Australian head office. Australia and New Zealand will now be managed and operated as stand-alone business entities to provide a new level of focus and resources on the growth opportunities in both of these markets.

Perry Morison has been appointed to the position of Country Manager - Off-Road Vehicles for Polaris in Australia to lead the brand into the exciting era ahead for its off-road vehicle business in Australia. One of the most experienced and talented executives in the Australian motorcycle industry, Perry comes into this role after six month as Executive Director - Government Relations for Polaris, after formerly heading up Suziki Motorcycles for almost 17 years. Prior to this, Perry had also held senior roles at Honda to cap off an outstanding experience base in the local motorcycle and ATV market.

In a major leap forward for its New Zealand business , Polaris New Zealand will be established as a stand-alone entity with a head office to be opened in Auckland early in the new year.

Polaris New Zealand will be headed up by Alan Collins, who has been appointed to the position of Country Manager for New Zealand and will oversee the Polaris, Indian and Victory brands in New Zealand. Alan moves into this role with a wealth of both industry and Polaris experience, having spent the past 18 months as a key driver in Polaris’ recent growth in his role as Marketing Mananger for Polaris in Australia & New Zealand, to complement previous senior sales and marketing roles with the US brand.

"It is always people that make the greatest difference and I have no doubt that we have assembled the best possible leaders to drive our business forward," said Polaris Australia & New Zealand Managing Director, Peter Alexander.

"Just a few short months ago I announced the arrival of esteemed industry executive Peter Nochar to our Australian motorcycle business, and now I have great pleasure in announcing further leadership changes to drive growth for our business over both the short and long term.

"Central to our growth and success is our people and we will continue to go out and handpick the very best talent the market has to offer. With Perry Morison and Alan Collins, we have two of the very best leaders to head up our business operations in both Australia and New Zealand," Alexander said.

Polaris is a recognized leader in the powersports industry with a market capitalization of $10.5 billiion. Polaris designs, engineers, manufactures and markets innovative, high quality off-road vehicles (ORVs), including all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) and the Polaris RANGER ® side-by-side vehicles, snowmobiles, motorcycles and on-road electric/hybrid powered vehicles.

Polaris continues to innovate at a rate of knots, whether that be creating new market segments such as ACE, rolling out a range of Indian Motorcycles just 27 months after purchasing a company which had been dormant for decades, developing a range of 15 models with ROPS that no other brand can match, or innovating the world’s largest range of accessories to bolt on and off its products in seconds.

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.

For more information or to locate your nearest dealer, please visit www.polarisindustries.com.au

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