Minneapolis – Polaris Industries Inc. announced that Michael (Mike) Jonikas, Vice President of Snowmobiles and Slingshot, will be retiring in May of this year.
Over the past 15 years, Jonikas has been a key leader for Polaris and the powersports industry, and has made significant contributions to both. Jonikas began his Polaris career in 2000 as a marketing director in the Off-Road Vehicles (ORV) division, then went on to become the first General Manager of Side-by-Side (SxS) vehicles, Vice President of Sales & Corporate Marketing and On Road and finally VP of Snowmobile and Slingshot. Under his guidance, Polaris’ snowmobile business has reached new heights in performance—both from the vehicles themselves and from a sales perspective—while his work with Slingshot resulted in one of the most successful product launches in Polaris history.
“Mike has been a passionate, dedicated and highly skilled business leader for Polaris over the past 15 years,” Scott Wine, Polaris Chairman and CEO, said. “During that period, he led and grew each of our vehicle businesses and transformed our sales and corporate marketing team, contributing significantly to our success. Quite simply, Mike worked tirelessly to make Polaris a bigger, better and stronger company, and our gratitude and best wishes go out to Mike as he embarks on his new, more relaxing, adventures.”
“I have been privileged to work with Mike for the past 15 years,” said Bennett Morgan, Polaris President and COO. “It is a fact that Mike’s efforts played a significant part in making Polaris the company it is today. We owe him a debt of gratitude, not only for his contributions to our business but also for the passion and pride he brought to every leadership challenge we set before him, no matter how daunting.”
“I have worked with so many great people during my time at Polaris, and it is their passion and commitment that I will miss the most,” remarked Jonikas. “Though I was present as Polaris broke through the $2, $3 and $4 billion revenue barriers, launched any number of groundbreaking products, and became a truly global business, it is the day-to-day interaction with the best team in powersports that always inspired me. As I leave, I am confident that the company is in great hands, and I look forward to seeing what they will accomplish.”
Wine continued, “It is never easy to replace someone of Mike’s caliber, but we have a deep reservoir of strong leaders ready to tackle such challenges, many of whom Mike trained himself. We have developed a thorough succession plan for his role, and details will be forthcoming.”
Wolf, Scanlon Assume P&L Responsibility For Snowmobiles, Slingshot Respectively
Polaris announced that the responsibilities of retiring Vice President of Snowmobiles and Slingshot, Mike Jonikas, will be divided between two roles reporting directly to President and Chief Operating Officer Bennett Morgan. Chris Wolf, currently General Manager, Snowmobiles, will be promoted to Vice President of that business, and Craig Scanlon will fill the role of Vice President, Slingshot.
“Mike’s departure presents us with an opportunity to leverage our incredibly deep pool of talent and further develop two outstanding performers,” said Wine, Polaris Chairman and CEO. “Expanding Chris Wolf’s role into Vice President, Snowmobiles, allows him to continue the work he and Mike did spearheading the renaissance of our snowmobile division. And by promoting Craig Scanlon to Vice President, Slingshot, we apply the experience of one of our largest business’ chief architects toward leading a new business with substantial runway.”
Wolf started with Polaris in 2002, rising through roles in sales, service, and product management before advancing to Director of Snowmobiles in 2011 and subsequently being promoted to General Manager, Snowmobiles in 2014. Wolf graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering.
Scanlon has been with Polaris since 2004, rising through a variety of Off-Road Vehicle (ORV) line management and sales positions prior to assuming the Director, ORV Sales and Marketing role in 2010. Scanlon was further promoted to General Manager, Side-by-Side vehicles in 2012. He graduated from the University of Maryland-College Park with a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting.
