TVS Motor owned Norton Motorcycles on Thursday announced the appointment of Dr Robert Hentschel as Chief Executive Officer and Vittorio Urciuoli as Chief Technical Officer.
Hentschel and Urciuoli will take up their new positions as John Russell steps down from his role as Interim CEO. Dr Hentschel joins Norton from Valmet Automotive Holding, where he has served as Managing Director since 2017. Before that, he headed Ricardo Deutschland and Hentschel System and was also Director of Lotus Engineering.
Shortly after TVS acquired Norton in April 2020, Russell was appointed to stabilise the company and create a platform that now enables Norton to make and deliver advanced technology motorcycles worthy of the iconic marque to a growing global customer base.
After playing a pivotal role in stabilising the company, Russell will end his tenure as Interim CEO as the business transfers smoothly to the new leadership team.
Urcioli’s former key roles within the global automotive industry include Director of URVI, Head of Powertrain at Lotus Cars and Project Leader at Ferrari and Aprilia Racing.
Sudarshan Venu, Joint Managing Director, TVS Motor Company, said, “TVS has created a plan for Norton to transform into the future. The brand will retain its core values which will be interpreted in a modern way for the customers of today and tomorrow. As part of this, we are excited to welcome on board a new management team led by Robert to lead this next phase of the journey. Over the last 12 months, we have ensured that our clear strategy for the transformation of Norton has been delivered with significant improvements to the product and the creation of a world-class manufacturing facility in record time. Now, Norton is ready to move to the next phase of its journey.”
Hentschel said, “It is an honour to take over the stewardship of Norton at this exciting time in the company’s remarkable 123-year history. To help restore such an iconic and much-loved marque to its rightful place on the global stage is a once-in-a-lifetime career opportunity. A highly motivated team has been assembled, bringing around 100 new skilled jobs to the region, to which we will be adding more in the future as the business grows. Norton is once again poised to build the finest motorcycles in the world.”
Urcioli said, “The Norton name has such a special place in the heart of every motorcycle enthusiast around the globe. Being the first manufacture to win the famous Isle of Man TT race in 1907, no other motorcycle has such an evocative name and superlative history. It’s every engineer’s dream to work for a company of such rich heritage. Now though, our sights are set firmly on the future. With the backing of TVS and the opening of the new state-of-the-art manufacturing process, everything is in place to take Norton to the next stage.”