Dorel Industries Inc. unveiled a series of changes at its nearly $1-billion-year bicycle business last week, including eight new managers, a new name and its first subsidiary in Chile.
On Monday, the Toronto, Ont.-based consumer products company announced it had renamed its Recreational/Leisure segment, which owns the Cannondale, Schwinn, GT, Mongoose, Sugoi and Caloi bicycle brands, “Dorel Sports.”
Two days later, Dorel Sports announced it had opened a subsidiary in Chile after acquiring its distributor there.
The announcements mark a shift from the cost cutting emphasized by management following a loss at the bicycling business in 2013.
“We have good momentum in our business as we enter 2015 and I’m excited about the upcoming year,” said Peter Woods, who was named president and CEO of the bicycle business in May, 2014 after DII executives credited him with quickly righting the business. “We’ve made a number of exciting new hires and promotions to support key elements of our growth strategy in 2015, in particular our focus on developing and delivering industry-leading product innovation, the lifeblood and heritage of our company.”
Dorel Sports management changes announced last week included; engineering manager for road bikes at Cannondale Sports Group (CSG); director of suspension technology at CSG; engineering manager for e-bike and urban at CSG's R&D facility in Freiburg, Germany; and BMX Product manager at GT. Caloi' executive Daniel Mendes was also named to the newly created position of VP global strategic procurement and relocated from Brazil to Dorel Sport's global headquarters in Wilton, CT.
Dorel Sports, acquired Caloi, which is Brazil's largest bicycle manufacturer, in 2013 and has begun manufacturing some of its premium brands there for the South American market.
Dorel Sports also named a director of quality and compliance to drive quality control across both CSG and Pacific Cycle, which sells to mass merchants and big-box specialty retailers like Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Dick's Sporting Goods.
In Chile, Dorel Sports acquired the assets of Intercycles, a Santiago-based bicycle retailer and long-time distribution partner. Intercycles will be folded into Dorel Sports Chile S.A., a new subsidiary that will lead sales, marketing, distribution and customer service of all Dorel Sports brands in Chile and Peru. In addition to selling direct to mass retailers, sporting goods and independent bicycle dealers, Dorel Sports Chile will expand the Intercycles retail concept to various locations across the region.
