IRVINE, Calif. (Jan. 12, 2004)-Kawasaki Motors Corp., U.S.A., coming off one of the best sales periods in its history, today announced several personnel changes that will further strengthen its management team by developing greater cross-functional expertise within the company's marketing group.
According to Tom Orbe, vice president, marketing, "the company is actively involved in the long-term process of broadening and adding depth to the already strong capabilities of our marketing team, and shifting responsibilities of key individuals within our existing system brings a new and promising approach to our product development and outreach efforts."
Patrick Kelly was recently promoted from product manager to director, product management and will oversee development in all product categories. He is replacing John Hoover, who last month announced his retirement after a 20-year career with Kawasaki. Kelly has been with KMC since 1989, serving as a technical instructor/instructional designer before moving to the product management group in 1996. He has since been involved with the development and introduction of numerous models, and was specifically responsible for Jet Ski® personal watercraft, and most recently the cruising and touring motorcycle product lines. Prior to joining Kawasaki, Kelly gained valuable insight into the industry as a single line Kawasaki dealer.
While Kelly's promotion was announced internally at the end of the year, the other management changes will become effective Jan. 12.
Vince Iorio assumes responsibility as U.S. product manager, all terrain vehicle (ATV) and utility vehicle (UV) model lines following a transitional assignment as national marketing manager. Iorio, who has held management positions at Kawasaki for nine years, is credited with helping revive and grow the company's ATV and UV business into strong, industry-leading positions while serving as the national brand and marketing manager for those products under Kawasaki's previous divisional structure. He has also held positions as media/public relations manager and national retail marketing manager.
Assuming the duties of national marketing manager is Chris Brull, who is making the move to Kawasaki from Foote Cone & Belding Worldwide, Kawasaki's national advertising agency. Brull has worked on the Kawasaki account for six years, most recently as the management supervisor. Prior to that, he was with the Los Angeles office of D'Arcy, Masius, Benton & Bowles, where he worked on a number of accounts. He has been actively involved in the various aspects of the national brand marketing and advertising communications programs for all of Kawasaki's consumer product categories.
Jim Williams, another veteran Kawasaki marketing staffer, will step into the position of national retail marketing manager. He has spent the past seven years in the product management group, with specific responsibility for the growth in Kawasaki's ATV and UV categories. Williams was instrumental in the development and launch of a number of important models, including the Prairie 650/700, MULE.™ 3000 series, Prairie 360 and the KFX700. While assigned to his recent position, Kawasaki's ATV retail sales more than doubled, and utility vehicle sales grew three-fold.
"This is a very talented group of individuals with more than 35 years of combined experience working with the Kawasaki brand," said Orbe. "Utilizing these talents to influence a wider spectrum of activities brings a new dimension to our presence within the industry as we move forward," he concluded.
Kawasaki Motors Corp., U.S.A., (KMC) markets and sells at wholesale Kawasaki motorcycles, ATVs, JET SKI® watercraft, and MULE© utility vehicles. These product lines are sold through a network of more than 1,500 independent retailers. KMC and its affiliates employ nearly 2,400 people in the United States, with approximately 400 of them located at the Irvine, Calif. headquarters.
Kawasaki's heritage of creating high-performance recreational vehicles and its tagline, "Let the good times roll."™, are recognized worldwide. With its illustrious history of breaking performance barriers with such product lines as the world renowned NINJA® sportbikes and JET SKI® personal watercraft, Kawasaki is aggressively carrying this heritage of pioneering leading-edge design and performance products into the 21st century.
Information about Kawasaki's complete line of recreational products and Kawasaki affiliates can be found on the Internet at www.kawasaki.com.