American Motorcycle Dealer AMD 233 December 2018 | Page 6

NEWS
BRIEFS
Mentor, Ohio based Race
Winning Brands (RWB), the
vehicle established by New
Your based equity investor
Kinderhook to hold and
operate its acquisitions in
the powersports and
motorsports markets
(Wiseco, JE Piston, Rekluse,
ProX etc), has announced the
acquisition of Falicon
Crankshaft Components of
Clearwater, Florida. Founded
in 1977, Falicon offers both
off-the-shelf and custom-
made race engine
components. Former owner,
Glenn Salpaka, will continue
to play a technical and
operations consultancy role.
Brembo will be the exclusive
‘Official Brake Supplier’ for all the
Energica bikes in the inaugural
MotoE Championship. The fully
electric single brand competition
will be staged at five European
circuits for the 2019 World
Championship, together with
MotoGP, Moto2 and Moto3.
Giovanni Castiglioni has
been ousted as MV Agusta
Chairman and CEO, with
Russian oligarch’s son Timur
Sardarov taking the reins
following an additional
£35m capital injection by
ComSar Invest and its parent
Black Ocean Group - the
private equity investment
vehicle operated by multi-
billionaire oil and gas
magnate Rashid Sardarov.
Castiglioni has been
appointed as company
president.
For those looking for underlying
‘tells’ that presaged the October
and November uncertainty on
Wall Street - the S&P 500 didn’t
record a single move up or down
of more than 1% during the third
quarter of 2018. That hasn’t
happened since 1963, according
to LPL Financial, and marked a
slide for the index from growth to
stable. Harley is in the prestigious
S&P 500.
Indian Motorcycle was 11th
in market share terms in
Switzerland (home to its
European corporate
headquarters) for the first
eight months of 2018,
having sold 363 units there
(up from 268 for the year
ago period).
6
Continued from cover
for Polaris Industries’ entry into the
motorcycle market, first with Victory, then
at the time of the acquisition of the Kings
Mountain, North Carolina Indian
Motorcycle iteration from Stephen Julius
in 2011.
Meanwhile, Tucker’s parent company
Motorsport Aftermarket Group has
secured the services of another “Petrol
Head”, with Chairman of the Board Bob
Peiser’s announcement of Hugh Charvat
as the new CEO for MAG.
Commenting on the conclusion of the
process to secure a successor to Andy
Graves, Peiser stated that “as we
stressed from the beginning, the new
group of investors was focused on
making the right choice for this position.
We not only wanted a previously
successful CEO, but also one who was
passionate about powersports. We are
confident that Hugh is that person. We
are extremely excited about the
knowledge, the experience and the
passion he brings, and we believe he is
the right person to help us win our
customers back and return our brands to
#1 in the industry.”
Charvat has extensive experience in
‘Charvat and
Blackwell are
both petrol
heads’
leadership roles at companies providing
aftermarket products in the automotive
and truck business. In his most recent
role at APC Automotive Technologies
(APC), he led an organization with more
than $600m in annual revenue, 1,500
employees and nine locations in North
America. Before APC, he was Chairman,
President & CEO of Schrader
International and had global
responsibility for Schrader Electronics,
Schrader Valve Group and Plews
Edelman.
“Beyond his work resume, he’s got a
passion for having fun on two and four
wheels,” continued Peiser. “When I
asked what was in his garage, I was
blown away by the answer. He owns a
Suzuki SV650 and a Suzuki GSF1250S,
along with a selection of sportscars. His
interest in fast cars isn’t just casual. He’s
been both a competitor and instructor in
sportscar racing, having competitive
licenses with SCCA, the BMW Club and
the National Auto Sports Association.
He’s been a national instructor for SCCA
for both open wheel and production
classes. I suspect that very soon he’ll be
looking at more motorcycles, and maybe
a side-by-side, so he and his wife, Lori,
AMERICAN MOTORCYCLE DEALER - DECEMBER 2018
Caption: Hugh Charvat, new CEO of Motorsport Aftermarket Group (center),
joined Board Member Mike Buettner (left) and J&P Cycles President Zach
Parham for a ride in Dallas during his interview process
To date, Tucker says it has had approximately 162 brand partners committed
to its 2019 show at Fort Worth in January. Of those, 21 are said to be new to
the Tucker show line-up, with 11 of those being new brands for the company
can get out and enjoy some off-road
fun.”
Charvat took up his position on
November 26 and “will be moving
quickly to get up-to-speed on everything
that’s happening with all our brands, and
at J&P Cycles and at Tucker Powersports.
He’s already planning for some extensive
time visiting our locations around the
country and meeting everyone in person.
And of course, the Tucker Show in
January will be a great way for him to
meet many of our dealers and suppliers.”
Peiser went on to thank Mike Buettner
“for jumping in to serve as Interim CEO,
which gave us the time to make this
decision. Mike will remain as a member
of the Board of Directors and a good
friend of mine. He will work with Hugh
to finalize our 2019 plans and provide for
a smooth transition.”
Charvat and Blackwell join industry
veterans John Potts (formerly of Vance &
Hines) and Greg Heichelbech (formerly at
Harley-Davidson, Triumph North America
and BRP), who were recently added to
the leadership team at MAG. John Potts
returns to MAG as Global VP of Business
Development, with Heichelbech heading
up the MAG Accessories Group
(Kuryakyn and Mustang Seats).
Meanwhile, a record number of
exhibiting brands and dealer pre-
registrations are being reported as Tucker
gears-up for its 2019 Dealer Expo at Fort
Worth in January. With some weeks still
to go, Tucker Powersports said that “to
date we have approximately 162 brand
partners committed to our 2019 show,
making it the ideal business networking
event for dealers to kick-off the new
year.”
Of those 162, there are 21 that are said
to be new to the Tucker Show line-up,
and 11 that are not only new to the
show, but also new Tucker brands.
“That’s not all though, with our larger
venue at the downtown Fort Worth Expo
Center, we have also seen an increase in
dealer pre-registrations with like for like
numbers running ahead of the same time
last year already.”
www.tucker.com
www.AMDchampionship.com