Polaris Inc. announced Chris Wolf has been named to the role of chief product excellence, quality and safety officer. Polaris initiated a search for this newly elevated role after Todd Gross, vice president of Global Product Safety and Quality, shared his intent to retire earlier this year. Wolf, a nearly 20-year veteran with the Company, most recently served as president of Snowmobiles.
“I want to thank Todd for all he has done to mature our product safety and quality strategy and systems, and for the talented team he built over the last several years,” said Mike Speetzen, Polaris’ chief executive officer. “Polaris has set out to make product safety and quality a competitive advantage and accelerate how we deliver on our commitment to product excellence across all our brands and businesses globally. Elevating this role reinforces those goals and the importance of this work. Over the course of his career, Chris has been a terrific advocate for our customers. Along with his extensive leadership experience and robust engineering and technical background, Chris’ deep understanding of our businesses, products and processes will be a tremendous asset to our efforts to deliver safe, quality vehicles.”
Wolf will lead the Global Product Safety and Quality team and continue to serve as a member of the Company’s executive leadership team, reporting to Ken Pucel, executive vice president of Global Operations, Engineering and Lean.
John Stockman has been named vice president and general manager of Snow, reporting to Steve Menneto, president of Off Road. Stockman will succeed Wolf in leading the Company’s Snow business, including product development, engineering, marketing and sales. He has been with the company for more than six years, most recently as vice president of Strategic Initiatives, Corporate Partnerships and Boats Integration.
“I want to thank Todd for all he has done to mature our product safety and quality strategy and systems, and for the talented team he built over the last several years,” said Mike Speetzen, Polaris’ chief executive officer. “Polaris has set out to make product safety and quality a competitive advantage and accelerate how we deliver on our commitment to product excellence across all our brands and businesses globally. Elevating this role reinforces those goals and the importance of this work. Over the course of his career, Chris has been a terrific advocate for our customers. Along with his extensive leadership experience and robust engineering and technical background, Chris’ deep understanding of our businesses, products and processes will be a tremendous asset to our efforts to deliver safe, quality vehicles.”
Wolf will lead the Global Product Safety and Quality team and continue to serve as a member of the Company’s executive leadership team, reporting to Ken Pucel, executive vice president of Global Operations, Engineering and Lean.
John Stockman has been named vice president and general manager of Snow, reporting to Steve Menneto, president of Off Road. Stockman will succeed Wolf in leading the Company’s Snow business, including product development, engineering, marketing and sales. He has been with the company for more than six years, most recently as vice president of Strategic Initiatives, Corporate Partnerships and Boats Integration.
“Our Snow business has just experienced one of its strongest years to date. John’s strategic approach and tremendous track record of furthering business results makes him the right leader to build on Snow’s incredible momentum as we continue to grow and invest in this segment,” commented Menneto.