Having a lot of readers in Australia & New Zealand, I thought that one or more of them could be interested by this “dream job” proposed by Polaris. The position was posted this morning, so rush your application (looks like you need to have an account on LinkedIn to apply). Submit your resume before October 5, 2012 at LinkedIn Jobs.
Victory Motorcycles Australia – Melbourne Area, Australia
Job Description: Are you aspirational and inspirational in a successful marketing outfit, busting at the chops to rewrite the playbook and be the star? Do you have chutzpah to own and grow 2 unique brands? Can you launch the legendary Indian Motorcycle, turbo charge Victory, The New American Motorcycle and take on the big boys? This role is an unparalleled opportunity to lead the Victory & Indian marketing effort. Reporting to the motorcycles country manager A&NZ you will create and execute an integrated marketing strategy and operating plan to deliver an exceptional end to end customer experience and market growth.
Desired Skills & Experience: You live and breathe the customer decision journey, innovative consumer driven marketing and getting the brand on the customers’ shortlist. Multi channel retail savvy, you know digital business backwards and what action is relevant to successfully grow a lifestyle brand. Degree qualified your drive for results is infectious, you consistently deliver on your promises and command a range of highly effective soft skills.
Got what it takes to market the best damn bikes on the planet? Then excite us, stand out from the crowd with a sensational pitch and make your move towards making the dream reality. Be quick – applications close Friday 5 October 2012
Company Description
Polaris is a recognized leader in the powersports industry with annual 2011 sales of $2.7 billion. 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.
Hmmm?
A Little “Thunder Down Under” and they pay you to do it??
The Ol’ Lady would never go for it
LOL !!!!
A little “Thunder Down Under” & they pay you for it ????
The Ol’ Lady would never go for it
LOL !!!!
Well that answers the question about whether the Indians will be sold down here. Sweet.
See, this is what’s bothering me about this whole Polaris/Indian thing. Don’t get me wrong cause I was ecstatic of the notion of Polaris taking on Indian in the late ’90’s (as rumors spread).
But this is the problem as I see it now. Victory isn’t an offshoot of an established Indian brand (which would be cool, btw), it’s gonna be visa versa at this point: Indian exists because of Victory; thus, Indian will now be, essentially, a defacto Victory bike redesigned. It is what it is.
Sorry, that’s not an Indian. The more I ponder this the more I don’t like it at all. I’ll try to keep an open mind tho, however difficult that’s gonna be….
As a long time motorcycle industry exec…. I can tell you that you will be shocked when you see what the ‘new’ Indian Motorcycles will be..!!
Blue Strada
The Victory line has got to be the ugliest bikes made.
I got a feeling those 2009-2012 PP105 bikes are gonna drop like a rock in price value next year when the new Indians are released.
I do wish nothing but success to the Indian brand….BUT….Polaris just doesn’t get the heritage of Indian. Having the first American motorcycle company, they need to understand that it’s a lifestyle purchase, not a side by side or four wheeler. They’ll be doing a great deal of the manufacturing of this bike in Mexico….yup, great AMERICAN motorcycle company…right? I’d much rather have one of the hand-built PP105 machines from the Kings Mountain era…at least those guys cared about the brand and understood what comes with it.
I think there’s an easy fix Polaris should go hire some of the guys from Kings Mountain who actually lived and breathed the brand, not use some area sales guy with a computer who cares more about how many ATV’s get sold because it effects his commission. I met some dude at Daytona a couple of years ago who worked for Indian corporate…they should go find him! Passion is what it’s about.
Indian sunk like the Titanic, was raised and sunk again twice in recent years with good reason. No one cares about a modern bike dressed up in big fenders, if you actually want to ride an unreliable, oil leaker for nostalgia sake, save up your dough and buy a pre ’53 Indian. Dead as disco, let it RIP!
The new bike will not be a derivative of a Victory. The new Indian will be just that – a new Indian. It will be done right – will it be what e v e r y b o d y wants? Probably not. No brand has what everybody wants (thus the point of getting to choose what you want). Polaris certainly understands heritage as they started the snowmobile business in 1958 and developed continually class-leading and innovative machines in that class.
The simple fact is that there are many people out there who desperately wish for Polaris to fail in its stewardship of the Indian Motorcycle Brand. It will not. Many are threatened, others myopic. Many cannot believe that a company that built so many snow machines, off road vehicles and military vehicles as well as introduce a strong American brand such as Victory can properly present a new Indian Motorcycle. They will be wrong.
Polaris won’t rush it – the many engineers, designers, production workers and staff that care about this brand and this company will do it right. And the bikes won’t be built in Mexico – they will (and are) being built in Spirit Lake Iowa USA where every Victory motorcycle has ever been built. They will be built with pride, respect and dedication.
Polaris is a financially strong and level-headed company building well-engineered and designed class-leading products. Polaris did not buy Indian Motorcycle to fail. They bought it to keep the brand alive, growing and prospering the way every enthusiast would want an American brand to grow.
If you have a deep passion for another brand, that is great. We know where you stand and we appreciate that dedication. Without such customer commitment and company resolve many more brands would be gone. But if you wish for somebody else’s brand to go away just because it’s not yours, then it’s you who revels in failure.
Polaris and the Indian Motorcycle staff do not speak that language, and we wish you happy trails.
I, for one, appreciate Polaris’ spirit & dedication to rebuilding the Indian brand. Who knows, I may end up buying a Polaris Indian someday.
But for purposes of economy, Polaris simply cannot, in my judgement, be expected to build a new bike without utilizing existing Victory parts. Thus, the newest bike by Polaris must then be considered a brand new Victory model, and that model will be called, and badged, Indian.
Hopefully it will look different than all the other Victory models out there, but no matter what the bike looks like stylish wise the bike will be a defacto Victory model, I should think.
I should add this.
It would have been awesome news to hear that Polaris was not only taking into consideration the styling aspects of vintage Indian motorcycles, but was also improving upon (perhaps various) vintage Indian power plants produced during Indian’s corporate existence. That way an exciting (and genuine) link to Indian’s glorious past could be at least somewhat maintained.
I mis-spoke – the first commercial snomobile was a Polaris in 1954 – not 58. Sorry about that.
Courtney, thanks for your support – and I can assure you without out any fear of being proven wrong, that the new Indian will not be a re-badged Victory in any manner. And re-creating an old design comes with old issues such as reliability, maintenance, durability and non-compliant emissions. The Victory engine in fact was developed over 15 years ago – imagine the technology gained in 15 years. In coffee machines – let alone internal combustion technology. Polaris design and engineering are working hard for the future. They are no going to reveal a sticker bike.
Nostalgia comes with a price – typically busted knuckles and roadside repairs. If somebody want that experience it’s available for them now through the pages of Walnecks.com. Nostalgia comes with incredible rewards also – but it’s not a commerically viable direction.
Polaris is a company exemplified by that first Snowmobile in 1954 – looking forward and developing modern engineering. In fact,it’s hard to imagine another company owning the Indian brand. Wait and see – 2013 will be a great year for Indian, and I suggest you start saving up your deposit money, Courney – we look forward to riding with you!
Alrighty then. I shall wait and see what happens. But I gotta admit I’m not holding my breath.
I do understand that 1953 and 2013 are worlds apart technology wise. I get that. But for many of us who wish to see Indian reborn, we’d like to see some effort made to bring what was to now, if that makes sense. To modernize the brand from the ground up rather than utilize Victory parts but yet call it Indian anyway, when in fact, it is clearly more Victory than anything else.
Maybe I’m being an unreasonable purist, lol. But I’ve tried to dismiss these folks (for years) that persist in repeating the mantra that Indian is dead, let it lie. Yet sadly, the older I get the more I find myself agreeing with that very sentiment.
I dunno. Good luck, Robert. And thanks for taking the time to converse with me. I really do wish you guys the very best!
Robert Pandya,
You already have the basis in design and performance efforts that the Indian marque laid out for you. Many Indian riders from that era were very competitive. Mostly, that competitive spirit was best shown in riding rather than building and posing showboats. Take Indian toward the goal of a bike that is affordable and can be competitively ridden with reliability. Keep building precision motorcycles. Marry technology with that spirit.
Mike Greenwald